The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has called on the public to shun panic buying and stock-piling of petrol, especially during the general elections.
This is contained in a statement by Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Department, NNPC, Ohi Alegbe in Abuja.
It stated that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, had directed the regulatory agencies in the ministry to sanction any marketer found hoarding, diverting or selling products above regulated prices.
The agencies, it said, were Department of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.
The statement stated that the corporation had enough stock of the product to keep the country wet for two months.
It put the current stock of premium motor spirit (petrol) in its depots across the country at 1.9 billion litres.
It also appealed to petroleum tanker drivers, who had stopped hauling fuel from depots in the coastal states to the Northern part of the country, to return.
It explained that some drivers had expressed anxiety of being caught in unfounded fears of post-election violence.
It, however, stated that the corporation was working closely with security agencies to provide maximum security.
It also cautioned marketers to desist from capitalising on the situation to hoard and divert petroleum products, thereby subjecting Nigerians to unnecessary hardships.
The corporation urged members of the public to discountenance rumours or insinuations of petrol scarcity.
It stated that all issues relating to the importation of fuel by marketers had been resolved.
It stressed that the Petroleum Pipelines and Marketing Company (PPMC) had released a huge volume of petrol into the market.
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