The Adamawa office of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) announced that it had renewed the operation licenses of approximately 85 percent of the state’s existing 530 petroleum stations.
Malam Sadeeq Ibraheem, the agency’s regional coordinator, stated this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Monday.
He stated that the remaining filling stations were unable to renew their licenses because they were awaiting tax clearance certificates from the Federal Inland Revenue Service FRIS.
Ibraheem explained that the agency would not renew a retail outlet’s operations documents without an accompanying tax clearance certificate, emphasizing that it would not jeopardize the basic policy requirements.
He identified some of the challenges confronting the agency’s operational activities, such as unnecessary objections from some communities in the construction of new petroleum stations, even after all proper procedures were followed.
The coordinator emphasized that the agency had since prohibited the sitting of petroleum stations within a 20-kilometer radius of the borders, and that all operational licenses for stations close to the borders had been suspended.
He stated that the initiative was designed to reduce smuggling of petroleum products into Cameroon and other border towns, and that the agency appreciated the efforts of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in this regard.
Ibraheem warned independent marketers against diversion of petroleum products, jeopardizing safety measures, and pump under-dispensing of the commodity to consumers, emphasizing that the government will not hesitate to sanction violators.
NAN
