Fuel Scarcity: Seal Stations Hoarding Fuel, Senate Tells DPR

As Nigerians continue to purchase petroleum products at high rates, the chairman of the Senate Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources investigating the lingering fuel scarcity in the country, Senator Magnus Abe, has asked the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to seal any filling station hoarding the products.

This is just as he also assured that the long queues at filling stations across the country would soon disappear.

Speaking in Abuja in a chat with newsmen, the chairman said the committee has approached the Lagos State Government and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to allow tanker drivers lift petroleum products in compliance with the resolutions agreed with the Senate Joint Committee and stakeholders in the oil industry.

“I’m very confident that normalcy will soon be restored and I urge Nigerians to give the system a chance to correct itself. Those who have fuel do not necessarily need to go back to the filling stations to refill because there will be no more scarcity to be afraid of. People who do not need to should not buy fuel for their cars or in jerry cans to go and store at home because when you do that, you are contributing to the scarcity.

“We have given very clear instructions to the DPR that anybody who has stock and is not selling in the hours that we have agreed should have their licences revoked and their facilities sealed. I will be back in touch with the DPR today to ensure that the nobody toys with that instruction. If anybody has information that filling stations are hoarding, they should contact the DPR and they would be dealt with.

“I have spoken with the Lagos State commissioner for transport and the chairman of the NUPENG in Lagos and they’ve assured me that everybody is complying. The situation will improve and it will continue to improve. There’s still a lot of panic buying going on but, as days go by, the queues would reduce,” he said.

Speaking of the progress made so far after the strike was called off, the senator said it is not satisfactory, adding that other measures must be taken to ensure that such incidences do not reoccur.