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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