Nigerian Govt to sanction fuel stations that alter pumps

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, owners of petrol stations that tamper with the fuel pumps would face penalties.

Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive of the NMDPRA, expressed concerns about the alteration of fuel pumps by filling station operators during an interactive session with commissioners of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission on Friday in Abuja.

He also claimed that the Federal Government and oil regulatory organisations are very concerned about this.

According to Ahmed, petrol outlets found pouring fuel from modified pumps will face penalties.

Depending on the seriousness of the offence, the punishments, he said, may include the revocation of operating licences, suspension, or shutdown.

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“What we are doing now is that we have some of our staff going round to take on-the-spot checks of some of the petrol stations.

“If you drive into a station, drive out, you will not know if you have been cheated until you do a measurement.

“Sometimes we do a physical measurement where we go to some stations and buy one litre, look at that environment to see whether that one litre is really one litre.

”Then we will know whether or not they have tampered with the pump,” he said.

The NMDPRA boss said that the authority would continue to collaborate with the RMAFC to generate more revenue for the federation.

“We have started the engagement but this is just a formal collaboration on areas where we can improve the revenue generation for the federation.

“There are two areas we have to look at which are either to generate revenue or cut costs,” he said.

He called on citizens to invest in the midstream sector of the economy.

“For example, if you want to build a gas plant, come to us, we will give you the guidelines, and the policies, and you will come and invest.

“The area you want to invest in will determine the cost of investment; the investment opportunities are there,” he said.

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