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Yakubu Suleiman, the national spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), says over 100 petrol stations have been sanctioned for increasing pump prices.
Briefly after President Bola Tinubu’s speech on May 29 that the petrol subsidy has been cancelled, panic buying erupted in some parts of the country as some marketers closed shops, leading to large queues in filling stations across the country.
In Lagos, Abuja, and other parts of the country, it was observed that since May 29, some filling stations ceased operations; while those that dispensed petrol increased prices as large queues of customers lined up for the commodity.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, Suleiman said there is a penalty for filling stations increasing pump prices, adding that over 100 sanctions have been placed on defaulters.
“We have a task force that goes around all the filling stations in the country and I want to assure you that they are there, working right from yesterday,” he said.
“Any filling station caught increasing the price just because of this announcement, there has to be a penalty against such stations. We sanction those who default. We close the stations. Our task force is there doing its job.
“As of yesterday, more than 100 filling stations have been sanctioned. Some of them, when we go through their reports, are not real petroleum marketers. Real ones cannot go against the rule of their administration.”
Mike Osatuyi, the national operations controller of IPMAN, had earlier told TheCable that the reflexive action of customers who wanted to stock up on cheap petrol before the price of the product increased, was to be blamed for the unprecedented level of queues.
He advised that, although there is currently enough petroleum stock to supply the nation, there would be a price increase eventually.
Meanwhile, the representatives of the federal government are expected to meet with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) today, over the planned removal of the petrol subsidy – the root cause.
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