The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has appealed to all petroleum products’ marketers to comply with the directive of the Federal Government by selling at the N125.00 new pump price.
The Zonal Director of DPR in Rivers State, Bassey Effangha, made the appeal in a press statement, yesterday, as a follow up to the full implementation of the Federal Government directive.
The DPR director said all filling station owners were expected to comply with the directive, adding that the DPR, as the regulatory agency, was poised to ensure that the new pump price was effective.
He said the agency was already on ground to monitor the filling stations to ensure total compliance.
Meanwhile, some filling stations in Port Harcourt have already adjusted to the new pump price while others have refused to do so, arguing that they still have in stock, old supplies which they were trying to sell out before adjusting their pumps.
The Tide investigation revealed that Total at Garrison, Eterna at Mile 3 and NNPC mega filling station at Lagos Bus Stop have all complied by selling at N125.00.
However, some filling stations in parts of the city, such as Agip and Elioparanwo, among other areas visited, still sell at the old pump price of N145.00.
The Tide gathered that some of the filling stations selling at the old pump price are those who got products before the pump price reduction, last week.
Some motorists, who spoke with The Tide, yesterday, commended the Federal Government for the pump price reduction but urged the relevant agencies such as DPR and Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to enforce compliance.
A commercial motorist, Akanimo Udosen, said he now buys fuel at N125.00 but argued that some filling stations still sell at N145.00 the pump price reduction, but I also want to urge the government to ensure that all filling stations sell at the new price,” he stated.
Another respondent and commercial motorist, lgba Sunday, also lauded the Federal Government for the pump price reduction.
“What the government has done is good; the fear is that some petroleum marketers will still be selling at the old pump price. I want the government to set up a monitoring team to check the activities of the filling stations”, he said.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the Licensed Filling Station Owners, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association have directed their members to comply with the new price regime.
The National Treasurer and former Port Harcourt Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Comrade Alex Agwornwor, who spoke with The Tide, said its members have been instructed to comply with the new directive.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Licensed Filling Station Owners, Comrade Sunny Mkpe disclosed in a press statement that its members are now complying with the new government pump price of N125.00 per litre.
But members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) raised the alarm over the inability of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketing Association (DAPPMA) to secure Federal Government approval to enable them sell the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at N125.00 per litre.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government, last Wednesday, reduced the pump price of the product from N145 to N125 per litre.
But the IPMAN National Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, who spoke with newsmen, yesterday, said that the marketers were concerned about government’s commitment to the payment of the credit balance between the old and new rate.
IPMAN, according to him, has written to the managing director of the Pipeline Products marketing Company (PPMC), who was yet to respond to their demand.
Owing to the worry over the confusion about the government’s non-commitment posture, a delegation of the marketers is billed to meet the managing director, today (Tuesday).
The national vice president said the issue is whether there will be sustainable availability of the petrol at the new rate because trucks that are queuing at the depots are yet to load the product due to price disparity.

Taneh Beemene