Fuel Scarcity: ‘Sanction Defaulting Depot Owners, Marketers’

I-G Solomon Arase, (middle), in a handshake with the Coordinating Director Firs, Mr Ajayi Bamidele , during the visit of delegations of Joint Task Board of Firs To Inspector-General of Police in Abuja recently. With them is the Executive Chairman, Firs Mr Tunde Fowler (left)

The Department of Petro
leum Resources (DPR) and other relevant authorities have been called upon to sanction any depot owner or major marketer who engages in selling petrol and kerosene above government approved official price.
A public analyst and expert on oil and gas, Engr. Francis Obiandu made the call in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt at the weekend.
Obiandu said the current scarcity of petroleum products in Rivers and other states could be likened to the activities of the depot owners and marketers who are in the habit of making quick money at the expense of the public.
According to him, despite purchasing the products at high cost, they should consider the plight of the masses whom they are out to serve, stressing that the alleged sales of petrol above the stipulated pump price had become a source of worry for the people.
He noted that it is obviously clear that the prevailing hike in retail prices petrol and kerosine is as a result of of the unscrupulous activities of some major depot owners in the country, pointing out that some of them are in the habit of selling the products above the official depot pump prices of N77.66 and N34.51 respectively.
The expert expressed dismay that the DPR and other relevant authorities  are yet to come out hard on those enemies of the common people, and reiterated that to further prevent hardship in the society over the scarcity of the products, the authorities should take immediate and proactive action to address the issues.
Obiandu further called on the DPR and others to directly monitor the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol and Dual purpose Kerosene (DPK) from depots in order to ensure that appropriate pricing was adhered to strictly.