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New fuel price fallout: DPR shuts down 10 petrol stations in Kwara

By BusinessNews Staff on January 22, 2015

No fewer than 10 filling stations were shut down on Tuesday by the state Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for their alleged refusal to dispense fuel to consumers at the new pump price of N87 per litre.

The stations which were sealed off by the DPR belong to major and independent marketers located in Ilorin, the state capital.

The federal government had directed all oil marketers to comply with the new price following persistent crude oil price reduction in the global market.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin after the monitoring of the compliance with the new price fuel regime in the state, the Operation Controller of the state DPR, Amos Jokodola, who led members of the enforcement team of the department, said the excuse given by the affected stations for failure to comply with the government’s directive was not acceptable.

Jokodola vowed that the petrol stations would remain closed until they were ready to revert to the new pump price of N87 per litre.

He said: “If the affected stations were embittered by the economic implication of the new price, it is their duty to lodge formal complaints to either PPMC or depot where they lifted the product.”

The DPR boss said the agency was not only enforcing the new price but also the quantity of fuel sold to the public.

According to him, “Outing has been very challenging because of two issues with the marketers and the major marketers.

“Some of the majors complained that their technicians have not arrived from their headquarters to effect the price reduction, which we considered not an acceptable excuse.

“Some stations which fall under that category, like Oando, MRS and others, have been sealed completely, and they would remain sealed until they reduce the price to N87 per litre as directed by the federal government.”

Jokotola added that: “Other challenges that we have with some independent marketers are that some got stock on Saturday, calculated at the old price. Also they felt we should give them time to dispose their stocks before they could reduce the price. We said no! The federal government’s directive is that effective from last Monday morning, all filling stations across this country should reduce the pump price from N97 to N87.

“So, if they have economic issues with stocks, they should discuss that with PPMC or with depot which they got the fuel from. We are statutory agency, and we are not involved in economic matters.

“Ours is to implement the federal government’s directive and we are going round. The compliance has not been encouraging, but it is a battle we have to fight to force them to sell at the price recommended by the federal government.

“So far, about 10 filling stations have been sealed off now including the major marketers, and what this means is that no operation-no selling of fuel until they revert to the new price of N87 per litre. We are not also looking at the price, we are also looking at the quantity, because some have reduced the price to N87 but the pump quantity is not acceptable, is not accurate. So, stations which fall under this category have also been sealed.”

[ThisDay]

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