The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, has issued warnings to petroleum marketers in Osun State to avoid hoarding the products.
The agency had, in the same vein, warned residents of the state to resist panic buying, hoarding and storing petroleum products in their residences.
The State Coordinator of NMDPRA, Adekunle Adeyemo, had issued the warning while speaking with journalists on Monday, April 29, in Osogbo.
According to Adeyemo, the surveillance team of the agency would be all out to ensure that no filling station would hoard the product.
The State Coordinator had also said that any marketer caught hoarding the fuel or engaging in any form of dubious practices would be dealt with in accordance with the law.
Adeyemo had also made assurances that the agency would increase its monitoring and surveillance of outlets, in line with its regulatory mandate to ensure compliance with quality, quantity and safety of operations.
Lastly, he revealed that the government was doing everything possible to ensure adequate availability of the product, and it would be unjust for independent marketers who have the product in stock to put it on reserve.
In Adeyemo’s words:
“We want to appeal to independent marketers who have petroleum products in stock to stop hoarding.“It will be inhuman for those who have the product to be hoarding and inflating the pump price. The surveillance team of the agency is already out to ensure that those who have the product are dispensing it to motorists at a reasonable price.”