Shuts down 19 filling stations in Calabar, Borno, Yobe
• Imposes N6 million fine on marketers for diversion,
• Corporation orders oil firm to pay N16.5 million
• Group asks Buhari to sack Kachikwu, Baru over scarcity
Officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in
Kaduna Zone have appealed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
to increase fuel supply to seven states under the zone.
The Zonal Operations Manager of DPR, Alhaji Isa Tafida, said
shortage in the supply of fuel to Kaduna and other northern states under the
zone had worsened the scarcity experienced in Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Zamfara,
Jigawa, Kebbi and Sokoto, adding that “this has made the monitoring exercise of
the DPR difficult.”
Tafida, who spoke at a press conference in Kaduna, said
“since the beginning of the year, the state (Kaduna) receives an average of 30
trucks of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) (fuel) per day which is below the state
sufficiency requirement of 70 trucks per day.”Meanwhile, the DPR has shut down
three stations and imposed a fine of N6 million on any petroleum marketer who
diverts trucks conveying PMS to filling stations.
The Operations Controller of DPR in charge of Cross River
State, Mr. Bassey Nkanga who shut down the three stations in the state over
un-accounted three trucks of fuel that were loaded from the depot, said: “We
have given them 24 hours to report back to us, and if they fail to do so, we
will conclusively deduce that they have diverted the product and we will apply
all the sanctions accordingly.”
Also, the DPR has closed down 16 filling stations in Borno
and Yobe states for “hoarding and selling” petrol above
the official pump price.The North-East Zonal Operation
Comptroller, Ali Idriss Zoaka, disclosed this while briefing journalists on
outcome of operation
crackdown on erring fuel stations.
In a related development, two filling stations belonging to
Azman Oil & Gas have been ordered by the NNPC to pay about N16.5 million
for diverting 66,000 litres of PMS.In a statement yesterday in Abuja, Group
General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said that a
joint task force monitoring the persistent fuel crisis in the FCT had also
arrested six persons in the Central Business District of the city for hawking
petrol in jerry-cans.
He said managers of the stations, located in the Nyanya and
Kuje suburbs of Abuja, were arrested after close monitoring by the team for
diverting trucks of petrol meant for their stations to unknown destinations.
The filling stations, according to him, would pay N250 fine
for each litre of petrol diverted, amounting to N16.5 million.He said three of
the arrested illegal hawkers – Samila Umar, Atlahim Abdullahi and Bashir Sani –
were charged and prosecuted at the Area Court, Gudu, where Justice Sidi Bello
sentenced them to two-month imprisonment or a N2,000 fine which they promptly
paid.
In another development, a group, Unified Nigerian Youth Forum
(UNYF), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Minister of State
for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu and Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mai Kanti
Baru, for non-availability of petroleum products.
President of the UNYF, Malam Abdulsalam Mohd Kazeem, in a
statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna said: “We call on Mr. President
to overhaul the entire NNPC management by immediately sacking Kachikwu, Baru
and the Head of DPR.
“The unwillingness of those saddled with the responsibilities
of importing, monitoring and distribution of petroleum products have further
exposed the lack of administrative acumen and weakness by the appointees of the
President.“NNPC has continuously lied to Nigerians about the availability of
petroleum products. Why scarcity of PMS?”
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