The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says it will not hesitate to apply appropriate sanctions on marketers hoarding petroleum products in their outlets.
DPR Director, Mr Sarki Auwalu, gave the warning in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lagos.
Auwalu said the warning was necessitated by the emergence of queues in retail outlets in some states of the federation.
According to him, from available records, there is product sufficiency in the country and there is no need for hoarding by any marketer.
He said:
DPR will not hesitate to apply appropriate sanctions on any outlet found wanting in this regard.
The regulatory agency has set up a special task force to intensify surveillance and monitoring of all retail outlets and depots nationwide to check the anomaly.
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He, therefore, advised the general public against panic buying.
Auwalu assured them that the DPR would continue to provide its regulatory focus of quality, quantity, integrity and safety for the effective operations of the downstream sector.
This is coming about 48 hours after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said that there will be no increase in the price of petrol in the country in March, and has cautioned sellers and buyers against hoarding and panic-buying.
The NNPC said this in a statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Kennie Obateru, on Sunday via its verified Twitter handle.
The response came amidst reports of possible increase in the price of petrol that has dominated the public space.
Queues resurfaced in many cities across the weekend as residents besieged fuel stations in anticipation of yet another season of fuel scarcity.
