The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority said it will penalise fuel station operators who tamper with petroleum pumps.
The NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed on Friday, during an interactive session with commissioners of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission in Abuja, raised concerns over the alteration of fuel pumps by filling station operators, saying it is a major concern to the oil regulatory bodies and the Federal Government.
Ahmed said petrol stations caught dispensing fuel with altered pumps would face sanctions.
The sanctions, he said will include revocation of operating licenses, suspension, or shutdown depending on the severity of the offence.
“What we are doing now is that we have some of our staff going round to take on-the-spot checks of some of the petrol stations.
“If you drive into a station, drive out, you will not know if you have been cheated until you do a measurement.
“Sometimes we do a physical measurement where we go to some stations and buy one litre, look at that environment to see whether that one litre is really one litre.
“Then we will know whether or not they have tampered with the pump,” he said.
The NMDPRA boss said that the authority would continue to collaborate with the RMAFC to generate more revenue for the federation.
“We have started the engagement but this is just a formal collaboration on areas where we can improve the revenue generation for the federation.
“There are two areas we have to look at which are either to generate revenue or cut costs,” he said.
He called on citizens to invest in the midstream sector of the economy.
“For example, if you want to build a gas plant, come to us, we will give you the guidelines, and the policies, and you will come and invest.
“The area you want to invest in will determine the cost of investment; the investment opportunities are there,” he said.
The RMAFC Chairman, Bello Shehu, stressed that the engagement between both organisations was intended to strengthen their partnership and enhance revenue generation for the country.
“We are here in order for them to enlighten us on what they do and what we can do as a commission to assist them to better boost revenue generation for Nigeria.
“We are interested in what the authority does to enable us to monitor better and know the right questions to ask which will enable us to give appropriate information,” he said.