15 fuel stations sealed for operating with expired licences in Niger

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), on Sunday, said it has sealed 15 Petroleum stations in Nigeria for operating with expired licences.

The head of operations at DPR, Madaki Joshua, said this during a meeting with officials of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association Of Nigeria (IPMAN) held in Minna the Niger State capital.

Madaki said a lot of filing stations in the State had been operating with an expired licence, urging them to renew their licences in order to enjoy hitch-free operations.

He added that the DPR would continue to carry out monitoring operations until all filing stations complied with the standard of operation.

“We did some surveillance and we discovered that a lot of operators are operating with expired licences in Niger State and we have called on them to come and renew their licence.

“When we went for the operation, we sealed up to 15 petrol stations operating with expired licences.

“Our office is opened for business, we are not just a regulator, we are a business enabler. If there is an issue, just approach us and let solve it together,” he said.

Madaki however noted that the meeting was necessary to take some of the grievances of the marketers into consideration as the regulatory body would do all within its reach to solve some of the issues raised.

Earlier, IPMAN Chairman Suleja and Abuja Unit, Mr Ahman Alhassan, lamented over what he described as an excess charge by the government revenue-generating bodies and the dubious acts of some private depots which they said is greatly affecting the ease of their doing business.

Alhassan explained that they paid twice when they buy from private depots by paying into separate accounts before they are allowed to lift their products.

He however appealed that most levies enshrined in the DPR should be scrapped, as marketers could no longer cope with the business.

He said; “private depots are killing us due to inflated price and DPR want us to sell below the price we bought our fuel and we can not do it.

“We want the assistance of the federal government and we want NNPC to be bringing fuel directly to us.

“Many marketers have left the business, their filing stations are now meant for goats and chicken. They can not meet the requirements for business any longer, some even want to sell their stations but they don’t have buyers for it”.