The authority highlighted specific violations, such as under-dispensing at fuel pumps and operating without the necessary approvals. Furthermore, NMDPRA indicated that it would start closing down stations lacking valid permits beginning in March.
During a special awareness session and stakeholder engagement with IPMAN executives from the Mosimi branch, the State Coordinator of NMDPRA, Mr. Akinyemi Atilola, emphasized the importance of ensuring that customers receive fair value for their purchases. He stated that penalties would be imposed on non-compliant stations based on the number of fuel pumps that are sealed.
“I am not a vanguard of using money as a consequence or correctional measure, rather it should be the last employment of consequence management.
“However, as I came here, I found out that many of the under-dispensing were just based on per location, per station, per plant.
“This means that if I close down your station because you are under-dispensing, and I decommission your pumps, it’s only N100,000 you come here to pay. No, that’s not what is going to happen now.
“You will pay according to the number of pumps that have been sealed. So, if five of your pumps are being decommissioned, you are paying N500,000 because the law says N100,000 per pump.
“As an executive of IPMAN, please tell your members to work on their calibration, it’s value for money. Make sure 10 litres is 10 litres,” he said.
He cautioned against postponing the renewal of permits, the engagement of consultants by IPMAN members, and what he referred to as inadequate housekeeping practices.
Atitola informed the IPMAN executives that the enforcement of the recent directive regarding truck loading capacities exceeding 60,000 litres would commence on March 1.
“NMDPRA is an enabler of businesses and not a killer, the authority remains committed to driving the five cardinal points of the present administration.
“The five cardinal points of the federal government are that the government wants to see the growth in SMEs, they want to see that there is eradication of poverty in the land.
“They want to see that a lot of people are being employed. The use of gas for expansion and utilisation and the growth of our industries.
“Those are the five cardinal points of this administration and we have to follow suit,” he said.
The executive members of IPMAN, under the leadership of Chairman Chief Salimon Ajayi, commended the authority for facilitating the stakeholders’ engagement.
He expressed the members’ commitment to collaborating with the authority to guarantee the security of fuel supply.
“We will cooperate with you, and stand by you to succeed,” Ajayi said.