Linus Ikegbunam, the head, Gas Monitoring and Regulation of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Enugu Field Office, said on Monday, December 30, 2019, that five petrol stations in Enugu, had been sealed off for various infractions.
Ikegbunam made this disclosure while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Monday in Enugu.
He said the action followed a routine monitoring of the activities of the petrol marketers in the state.
The DPR chief said no fewer than 18 petrol stations were inspected and five of them were sanctioned during the exercise.
He said while one of the affected petrol stations was operating without a licence, four others were closed down due to under-dispensing of the product.
Ikegbunam described as fraudulent, a situation where petroleum marketers would adjust their pump price in order to cheat the public.
He said the petrol stations would remain closed until their owners would pay the necessary fine for the infraction, as well as re-adjust their pumps.
Also, the DPR controller, Enugu Field Office, Okechukwu Okoro, has allayed the fears of commuters of any possible scarcity of the product.
Okoro said there was enough product in the state, adding that the DPR would ensure that marketers did not create any artificial scarcity.
He said it was gratifying that the marketers had maintained the selling of the product at government approved pump price.
“We appeal to the public not to engage in panic buying. We shall ensure that no marketer engage in any form of sharp practices,” he said.
Okoro said the DPR would not allow petroleum marketers to take undue advantage of the public throughout the festive season.
