The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says any depot or filling station found selling petrol above the official N86.50 pump price will be sealed for three months.

The Minister for State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, announced this while addressing newsmen on Monday in Abuja. He said that licences of those found to have consistently breached the rules and regulations would be withdrawn to ensure discipline in the system.

"With all the effort put in place, it is observed that a lot of filling stations continue to sell at prices above what is stipulated; this is very intolerable. "It is ripping off innocent Nigerians and they are doing it at a time where there is very zero tolerance for this sort of behaviour.

"So, I am using this opportunity to give last warning to all those who own filling stations and depots to go back to the price approved by Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA)," he said.

The minister also urged the DPR to raise enforcement to ensure complete compliance to the policy. "If any filling station is found selling product above the price, we are going to seal it.

"But first, we are going to dispense the product for free and then we will seal the station and not open it for the period of three months. "if any depot does same, the same thing will happen. We cannot afford to allow indiscipline in the system when people know what to do," he said.

Kachikwu urged Nigerians to contact DPR through text messages to the designated numbers to help ensure full compliance.

This, he said, would help stop sharp practices, adding that strict monitoring would continue to enable Nigerians enjoy the benefits of the new pump price policy.

According to him, the allegation that most depots are not buying at a cost that would enable them to sell to marketers to dispense at official pump price is false.

He said that the DPR and NNPC would collaborate with the relevant security agencies to continue the monitoring, adding that effort would be made to ensure full monitoring of situation in the rural areas. Also, Mr Mordecai Ladan, Director, Petroleum Resources (DPR) said that its 300 staff would be involved in the monitoring process.

He added that DPR was working on electronic tracking of all supply across the country, adding that on Tuesday all its staff would go out again to ensure full compliance to the policy. Ladan said that NNPC affiliate stations would also be monitored to ensure selling at the appropriate price.