The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has cautioned petrol marketers against unauthorised pump price increase and product hoarding.

NUPRC’s Operations Controller in Bauchi, Abdullahi Iliyasu, gave the warning on Wednesday.

His warning came against the backdrop of long queues in some fuel servicing stations in parts of the state.

Mr Iliyasu said that the federal government had not increased the price of the product.

He, therefore, warned that defaulting marketers found shortchanging consumers would be sanctioned appropriately.

He said that the official pump price remains between N162 and N165 per litre.

The controller said that the department would intensify surveillance in the over 500 filling stations across the 20 local government areas of the state to enforce compliance with the existing pump price regime.

He attributed the recent queues in filling stations to the shortfall in supply from the Gombe, Kano and Jos depots.

“We are working toward resolving the hitches. We constantly check against instances of diversion and other sharp practices. Reports indicate that some filling stations outside Bauchi metropolis were dispensing fuel at N170 per litre,” Mr Iliyasu explained. “This is unacceptable. We have since embarked on patrol across filling stations in the state.”

According to him, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has enough products to sustain regular supply for over one month.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Anas Suleiman, attributed the long queues in filling stations to a decrease in the supply of the product.

Mr Suleiman said that the initial product cost at the depots was N148.26k but rose to N157.50k, hence the hike in price.