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Lawmakers vow to tackle adulterated fuel importers as NNPC assures of improved product supply

Nigeria's House of Representatives in Session

*The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) has assured Nigerians it will handle the indicted importers of methanol-blended petrol into the country

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), in the National Assembly (NASS), Abuja, FCT, has reassured Nigerians that his Committee will handle the companies that imported methanol-blended Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, into the country.

Hon. Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya, Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum, disclosed this during an engagement with the Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

Malam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director and CEO of NNPC Limited

The Company said the House of Representatives Committee had organised the forum in connection with the current fuel situation in the country.

Briefing the Committee in the status quo, Malam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO/GMD), explained that the situation resulted from the discovery of methanol in the PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria under the subsisting commercial contract operated by NNPC and its partners.

Mr. Garba Deen Muhammad, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC Limited, Wednesday, February 16, 2022, in Abuja, FCT, stated Malam Kyari said the reason why initial tests did not reveal methanol presence was because Nigeria’s specifications do not include methanol.

The GMD/CEO also noted: “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.”

He further disclosed in that 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 said: “Subsequent investigation revealed that the four cargoes, which are all from the same source, also contained methanol-blended PMS.”

Indicted methanol-blended petrol importers

According to him, NNPC then moved swiftly to trace all the affected products and quarantine same.

Assuring the Committee and Nigerians that measures have been put in place to accelerate fuel supply and distribution in the country, the NNPC CEO said the company had placed significant orders of over 2.1billion liters of methanol-free PMS to ensure the queues vanish in few days.

Getting to root of the matter

In unravelling the point at which the contamination occurred in the fuel supply chain, the NNPC Chief pledged the company would cooperate with the Committee and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to get to the root of the matter.

He, therefore, expressed deep empathy with Nigerian consumers on the current fuel situation.

Kyari further assured that adequate measures had been put in place to maintain supply sufficiency and prevent future occurrence in the country’s economy.

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