DPR to prosecute marketers over fuel diversion

bibing

ANY petroleum products marketer who engages in the act of diversion, hoarding or under-dispensing will be prosecuted and treated like an economic saboteur, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said.

The Director of DPR, Mordecai Ladan, who handed the warning in Abuja, stated that in addition to prosecution, any erring filling station that engage in diversion of petroleum products will also risk two months suspension.

The DPR boss linked the resurgence of fuel queues in some states in the northern part of the country to the nefarious activities of unscrupulous marketers who are in the habit of diversion of petroleum products to other sources apart from dispensing pumps at filling station at the appropriate price of N87 per litre.

He submitted that the racketeering of petroleum products is not unconnected with maximizing margin beyond the figure that government has fixed. The DPR boss also said some filling stations who are also in the habit of under-dispensing at the pump would not escape the sanction of the Department.

There have been noticeable queues in some parts of the country, which has also resulted in panic buying by commuters with rumour mills also going round about a possible re-appearance of queues due to scarcity of petroleum products.
The Director warned that any petroleum products marketer found to be under-dispensing or selling products above government regulated prices would be suspended for a minimum of two months.

Source: TheGuardian