January 24, 2018

Mr Rotimi Benjamin, the Vice-Chairman, South-West, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), on Wednesday urged the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to stop sealing filling stations until scarcity of petrol was over.

Benjamin gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

According to him, sealing of filling stations in the face of the lingering fuel scarcity will amount to more suffering for motorists.

“We should not deceive ourselves, there is no petrol in our depots at present and most of the independent marketers are struggling to get the product above the depot price.

“Apart from few major marketers and NNPC retail outlets that are selling at N145, other filling stations are selling petrol at between N170 and N200 in most cities in Nigeria.

“The question now is that why is DPR sealing filling stations when they are aware that the product is not from NNPC depots?

DPR should allow the independent marketers’ filling stations sell their product. When the product is available in all stations, nobody will tell motorists where to buy the product.

“Sealing of stations and dispensing their petrol free to motorists is economic sabotage on their part because most of them borrowed money from banks to buy the product.

“I am not saying that the department should not perform their duties but sealing is not the best option now,” he said.

The Vice-Chairman urged the NNPC to increase the supply of petrol to filling stations in other states the same way it increased supplies to Lagos and Abuja to stop the disparity in the price of petrol.

NAN reports that most filling stations in outskirts of Lagos are still selling petrol above the official pump price of N145 per litre.