CHAIRMAN of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya has assured Nigerians that the companies that imported contaminated fuel into the country will be sanctioned.
Gaya spoke during a meeting with the management of the NNPC over the current fuel situation in the country.
Briefing the Committee, the Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Mele Kyari explained that the scarcity followed the discovery of methanol in fuel cargoes shipped to Nigeria under the subsisting commercial contract operated by the national oil company and its partners.
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According to Kyari, tests did not reveal the presence of methanol in the fuel because Nigeria’s specifications do not include methanol.
Kyari, according to a statement issued by spokesperson of the NNPC Garba Deen Muhammad, said, “We are a law-abiding company. There is no way we could have known about the methanol presence. The only way we could have known about it is if our suppliers, in good faith, made the disclosure to us.
“In this particular instance, the discovery was made by our inspection agents who noticed the emulsification at the filling stations and brought it to our attention.”
Kyari explained that subsequent investigations revealed that the four cargoes which were all from the same source also contained methanol-blended fuel.
He said the NNPC then moved swiftly to trace all the affected products and quarantine them.
While assuring the Committee and Nigerians that measures have been put in place to accelerate fuel supply and distribution in the country, Kyari said the NNPC had placed orders for over 2.1 billion litres of methanol-free PMS to ensure that fuel queues vanish across the country in few days.
He promised that the NNPC would cooperate with the Committee and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to get to the root of the matter.
The NNPC CEO also expressed deep empathy with Nigerians and assured that adequate measures have been put in place to maintain supply sufficiency and prevent future occurrence.
Nigerians have been going through tough times with long queues at filling stations across the country as a result of the recent importation of contaminated fuel into the country.
Despite being the sole importer of petroleum products in a subsidy regime, the NNPC has failed to take full responsibility for the problem.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.