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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