Poised to end the noticeable fuel queues in major cities across the country, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu on Tuesday ordered the Department of Petroleum Resources to sanction defaulting fuel stations across the country.
The minister who has also called a meeting with the oil marketers to find lasting solutions to the worsening fuel situation, ordered that the hoarded fuel in such stations should be sold free to the public.
“I have instructed DPR that if they discover any fuel station involved in hoarding, they should sell the products for free to customers around there. It is not just sealing the station that is the answer. It is penalizing them when they do these things and I hope the message goes out loud and clear,” he said.
As part of efforts to ensure normalcy returns, the minister is to hold strategy session with the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) as well as Jetty and Tank Farm Owners Associations as well as all other relevant stakeholders in Abuja on Wednesday, seeking their cooperation in ensuring speedy clearance of the fuel queues.
“I am getting all the Majors to get involved and they must take charge of the situation and they must take responsibility for all their filling stations. Currently, there is enough supply and we are moving trucks massively to address the situation. I have instructed the DPR and the Petroleum Equalization Fund and all the other agencies to work towards the Fast track movement of petrol bearing trucks and vessels,’’ Kachikwu stated.
On the approved payment of N413 billion subsidy claims to marketers, he reiterated that President Muhammadu Buhari has transmitted a letter to the National Assembly for the legislative approval of the subsidy claims, noting that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will make the funds available to the marketers once appropriated by the National Assembly.
The Minister also said there is no price reduction of petrol in the horizon and that marketers should desist from hoarding by making the products available to the motorists.
Meanwhile figures from the daily dispatch of petrol to depots across the country indicate that 38, 277, 955, 00 Litres of petrol was dispatched by PPMC across the country on monday.
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