FG begins probe of adulterated fuel imports

 

The Federal government has initiated the process to investigate the supply of adulterated petrol to the country, which has given motorists serious concerns in the last few days.

This followed a briefing on the matter provided to President Muhammadu Buhari by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who confirmed to correspondents on Wednesday that the aim is to get to the bottom of the matter.

Speaking after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, Sylva cautioned against drawing conclusions before the investigation is completed.

Asked whether the issue was discussed at the Council meeting and whether the suppliers will be punished, he said: “The issue did not come up in Council, but of course, you will recall I was here yesterday to brief Mr President on the issue. I’m not in a position to disclose the identities of the companies, but there are some issues and we are actively tackling it.

“Nobody has, before now, checked for methanol in our fuel, it’s not very usual and this is the first time this is happening and NNPC is very much up to the task.

“I will also convey your question to NNPC and maybe the Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, but we’re actively handling it and I want to assure you that the problem will be a thing of the past very soon.”

The minister assured that government will consider compensating those who may have been adversely affected by the bad fuel.

Speaking further on possible sanctions for the companies, Sylva stated: “I didn’t expect you to rush to any conclusions. There’ll be a major investigation to unravel everything and then let’s really get to the bottom of it before we can come back and tell you what is going to happen to the culprits.

“We know that some people’s vehicles must have also been damaged, that is also going to be taken into consideration in dealing with the situation.”

The Minister of State had also spoken on the approval granted to his ministry by the council, saying that FEC closed out the contract for the construction of the 17-storey local content building in Yenagoa at the cost of N1.81 7 billion.

He explained: “You will recall that in 2020, Mr President already commissioned that project. There were some ancillary works, that had to be done to connect some of the buildings and that was now presented to the council for the sum of N1.81 7 billion. This now closes out this contract and we have told the contractor this is the full and final payment for everything.

“So, this is the end of this project and we have completely delivered this to Nigerians.”

Also speaking at the post-FEC media briefing, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed that the council approved the granting of citizenship to 286 foreign nationals out of the 600 who applied.

The go-ahead followed Aregbesola’s presentation to the council the approval made by the Advisory Committee on Nigeria citizenship, comprising the first set.

He said another set is expected to be presented by the end of the first quarter or latest by the middle of the year.