NNPC GMD Apologizes, Says Fuel Scarcity Will Vanish In Few Days
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited Mele Kyari has apologized to Nigerians over the importation of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) into the country.
Kyari made the apology when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) investigating the importation of methanol-blended fuel and the current fuel scarcity in the country.
The NNPC boss explained that the reason why tests did not reveal methanol presence in the imported PMS was because Nigeria’s specifications do not include methanol.
“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 said.
“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.
“Subsequent investigation revealed that the four cargoes which are all from the same source also contained methanol-blended PMS,” he added.
While assuring the Committee and Nigerians that measures have been put in place to accelerate fuel supply and distribution in the country, he said the company had placed significant orders of over 2.1 billion litres of methanol-free PMS to ensure the queues vanish in few days.
His words, “The situation you’re seeing today I can assure you that by next week it will vanish. All things being equal because of distribution issues that we may not have control over including the movement of trucks, otherwise, we have robust supply arrangement to make sure that we exit this issue.”
Recall that the importation of adulterated PMS had sparked outrage among Nigerians who complained that the product affects motor engines negatively.
Large fuel queues also surfaced across major cities in the country leading to an increase in the cost of transportation, loss of man-hours and a rise in the price of goods and services.
