Officials of Department of Weight and Measures in Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment today sealed 26 fuel pumps under-dispensing petrol in Sokoto and its environs.
The officials, led by an Assistant Director, Mr Ibrahim Isah, inspected 15 filling during the inspection, monitored sales and sealed pumps discovered to have anomalies. In some stations, the dealers sold a litre of petrol at between N146 and N147 instead of N143 per litre that they displayed to customers.
Isah said the exercise was routine, noting that the proprietors of each station which pump was sealed had been invited for a meeting at the office of the department in Sokoto. Isah said the stations sold petrol above the regulated price and higher than the concessional margins, adding that the sealing of the pumps was temporarily for 24 hours.
He explained that during the meeting with proprietors, issues that led to the anomalies would be addressed. Isah said the proprietors of the stations would write an undertaking before the pumps would be unsealed.
He called on customers to always report suspected anomalies on sales at filling stations to the department’s offices in the 36 states as the department had a duty to ensure that customers were not cheated. Some filling station attendants, who pleaded anonymity, said most of faults detected were not deliberate as some fuel pumps were old and needed maintenance.
