By Dennis Mernyi and Cross Udo, Abuja
The controversy surrounding the contaminated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, which caused scarcity of the product across major cities in the country continued yesterday as President Muhammadu Buhari ordered those producers and providers of consumable products to be held accountable for substandard services and or products sold by them.

The President’s order came on the heels of the outcry over the importation of adulterated fuel that has caused damage to cars engines.

Buhari in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, also gave “directives to the relevant government agencies to take every step in line with the laws of the country to ensure the respect and protection of consumers against market abuses and social injustices.”

According to the statement, “In a reaction to the issue of petroleum product shortages linked to the inadvertent supply of products of foreign origin into the Nigerian market, President Buhari said the protection of consumer interests is a priority of the present administration and is ready to take all necessary measures to protect consumers from hazardous products, loss or injuries from the consumption of substandard goods.

“The President directed that in line with the law, service providers must make full disclosure of relevant information concerning the consumption of their products, and those dissatisfied consumers are entitled to a proper redress of their complaints.”

•Reps demand immediate suspension of companies involved in importation
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has demanded immediate suspension of companies involved in the importation of adulterated petrol into Nigeria.

While also demanding for probe into the source of the adulterated petrol, the lawmakers passed a resolution to investigate the source of the adulterated PMS.

Debating a motion of urgent public importance, members of the House said the development was a failure on the part of regulatory and monitoring agencies.

They called for the immediate suspension of the four firms which imported the adulterated product. This they said should be done pending the outcome of the investigation.

Chief Whip of the House, Mohammed Monguno, who moved the motion, urged the legislature to intervene to ensure the product did no further damage and hardship to Nigerians.

Other lawmakers informed the House that many Nigerians have reported engine failures in their vehicles.

Such failures include sudden breakdowns on the roads.

One of the members, Isiaka Ibrahim, was worried that besides vehicular breakdowns, a worse scenario could have been the case if the adulterated fuel was aviation fuel.

Ibrahim said, “Mr Speaker, that will be quite frightening and the outcome is better imagined. For example, while an airplane is flying, the engines suddenly stop working because of bad aviation fuel. That could have been worse.”

Corroborating the fears raised by Ibrahim, another member of the House, Tajudeen Yusuf, said the importation of bad fuel was another symptom of the sickness plaguing the entire system.

He wondered how the adulterated petrol escaped the scrutiny of the layers of regulatory bodies, both at the port of entry and onshore.

“I feel saddened that the layers of laboratory inspection failed until the bad fuel got into vehicles in the country. This is the unfortunate situation in our country; everyone thinks of their pockets first and looks the other way.”

Similarly, another lawmaker, Ganiyu Johnson, suggested a review of the policy on the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

The lawmaker observed that the policy was affecting the economy negatively. He averred that in some way, relevant regulatory agencies were no longer doing their jobs thoroughly.

The House, in passing the motion, also gave a directive to the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream).

The committee was asked to ensure their investigation covers all other petroleum products imported into the country lately. They should also ascertain their conformity to standards and safety for use.

•NNPC counters MRS, says marketer, three others responsible for adulterated fuel

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Limited has named Oando Oil Company, MRS Oil, Duke Oil, and Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium as importers of the contaminated petrol into Nigeria.

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The company said the products were procured under the Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) and were shipped to Nigeria from Antwerp in Belgium.

Providing a graphic chronicle of the unfortunate incident, Chief Executive Officer/Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, said, “On 20th January 2022, the company received a report from its quality inspector on the presence of emulsion particles in PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria from Antwerp, Belgium.

He explained that NNPC investigation revealed the presence of methanol in four PMS cargoes imported by the following Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) suppliers with details which include names of the four importers, their vessel names, and the various ports they loaded the products.

MRS vessel is MT Bow Pioneer and loaded at LITASCO Terminal, Antwerp-Belgium while Emden/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium loaded with vessel name MT Tom Hilde also at LITASCO Terminal, Antwerp-Belgium.

Oando loaded with MT Elka Apollon at LITASCO Terminal, Antwerp-Belgium and Duke Oil loaded with MT Nord Gaine also at LITASCO Terminal, Antwerp-Belgium

Kyari, however, noted that cargoes quality certificates issued at load ports (Antwerp-Belgium) by AmSpec Belgium indicated that the gasoline complied with Nigerian Specification.

He reassured Nigerians of its capacity to restore sanity in the supply and distribution of quality PMS across the country within a short period.

The NNPC chief executive, who pledged at the end of a meeting with some oil marketers to resolve the issues generated by the recent supply and discharge of methanol blended petrol in some Nigerian depots, emphasised that defaulting suppliers have been put on notice for remedial actions and NNPC is working with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDRA) to take necessary actions in line with subsisting regulations.

He explained that the NNPC investigation revealed the presence of Methanol in four PMS cargoes imported by the following Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) suppliers as listed in the table below.

According to a statement by Group General Manager Garba Muhammad, “The NNPC quality inspectors including GMO, SGS, GeoChem, and G&G conducted tests before discharge also showed that the gasoline met Nigerian specification.”

Kyari noted that as a standard practice for all PMS imports to Nigeria, the said cargoes were equally certified by an inspection agent appointed by the NMDRA.

“It is important to note that the usual quality inspection protocol employed in both the load port in Belgium and our discharge ports in Nigeria do not include the test for Percent methanol content and therefore the additive was not detected by our quality inspectors,” he stated.

However, to prevent the distribution of the petrol, the NNPC CEO said the company promptly ordered the quarantine of all un-evacuated volumes and the holding back of all the affected products in transit (both trucks).