The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, has warned Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) retailers against illegal sale of the product as scarcity lingers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and neighboring Nasarawa and Niger states.

NMDPRA issued this warning in a statement through its official X account.

The regulator urged retail outlets to desist from servicing black marketers.

“NMDPRA embarks on a war against the illegal sale of petroleum products, especially PMS in jerrycans.

“Filling stations are advised to desist from servicing illegal peddlers, failure to do so would result in the suspension of retail licenses,” it warned.

This comes on the back of the deepening fuel scarcity in the Nation’s capital.

Checks by DAIlLY POST on Friday showed that the majority of filling stations are not dispensing fuel, while few are open for business.

For instance, along Kubwa Expressway, it is only the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail outlets that were dispensing fuel on Friday.

The development led to long queues in the few filling stations dispensing fuel.

Recall that two weeks ago, the NNPCL in a statement by its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye had attributed the scarcity to a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.

However, fuel scarcity remains a recurring decimal without permanent solution.

Last month, Billy Gillis-Harry, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association, PETROAN, said the Nigerian government should set up a war council to tackle the continued occurrence of fuel scarcity in the country.