14 July 2015, Akure—The Petroleum Dealers and Owners Association in Ondo and Ekiti States and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and other regulatory authorities are on collision course over selling of petrol above the government-approved pump price.
Officials of the regulatory authorities had stormed both states sealing up many filling stations and arrested petrol attendants for selling above pump price.
Addressing newsmen in Akure, however, the association insisted that they cannot sell at the government- approved N87 per litre pump price.
With this development, the scarcity of petroleum in the states in the last few months will linger just as the association pleaded for the understanding of the people due to the hardship.
Chairman of the association, Mr Jimi Oladapo, who led others to the briefing said due to non-availability of products at the depots of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), members had been sourcing the products through other means at high cost.
The dealers said rather than forcing them to sell at unprofitable price, the Federal Government should deregulate the downstream oil sector to enable them sell at appropriate prices.