Reps Reject Committee’s Report On Adulterated Fuel

The House of Representatives yesterday rejected the report of its Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) which investigated the importation and distribution of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS, or petrol) into the country.

It said the recommendations of the committee did not tally with the House resolutions as well as its findings and asked the committee to do more legislative work on the investigation before resubmitting the report for consideration.

The committee had recommended that “due to the sudden withdrawal of the Methanol-Blended PMS from distribution under the quarantine measures emplaced by Nigerian National Petroleum Comapny (NNPC), and the subsequent supply gap and distribution challenges created, NNPC should be fast in restoring the stability of PMS supply and distribution across the country”.

It said the NNPC, in conjunction with Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) should undertake the recertification and revalidation of in-country volumes for immediate releases to the market.

The report also noted that to accelerate distribution, NNPC must start a 24-hour operation at its depots and retail outlets, while Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Deport Owners Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) should start a 24-hour wading and dispensing activities in some of their designated outlets.

It added that the NNPC Monitoring Team, in collaboration NMDPRA and security agencies, should ensure smooth distribution of PMS nationwide.

But the lawmakers were not happy with the report.

They said it felt short of their expectations as it did not address the terms of reference given to the committee.

House Minority Leader Ndudi Elumelu said the report failed to take into consideration refineries that are currently being rehabilitated and the status of the rehabilitation.

He said: “If you look at Prayer Two, which they have submitted to us, they said the Minister of Petroleum Resources should expedite action towards the completion of refineries. In their report, they did not give us the status of those refineries that are being rehabilitated.

Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase asked the committee to go and do more work on the report before representing it to the House for consideration.

“What is the up-to-date assessment of those three refineries being rehabilitated? They should come up with certainty on the position so that we can give a proper appraisal…”

Deputy Minority Leader Toby Okechukwu said: “My worry is that the recommendations of the committee should speak to the findings. If you look at Page 25 of the main report, it speaks of three refineries and Page 15 speaks of people who import petroleum products.

“When you see what is being recommended, I know that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is responsible across board for quality and standard of products. We should also know that DPR has certain test protocols in the refineries to ascertain whether or not they meet specifications. Whether SON is responsible for doing this or not is another matter.

“I have not seen in the entire recommendations which are going to vote on what should happen to the companies that imported the defective product. What we are talking about is adulterated product and we are just running through. There should be a report on the refineries whose contract has been awarded and not that the Federal Government should initiate action to begin.

“They should tell us what they actually did because we want to solve the problem and not just look and gloss over. The reason for the motion is the adulterated product, but the recommendations did not speak to that.”

Ajibola Muraino (PDP, Oyo) said: “The terms of reference, which this House gave to them, were very specific. Looking at the recommendations, one would see that the terms of reference have not been addressed at all, particularly Items Three, Four and Five. These are specific terms which ought to be addressed specifically so that we can move into the future with the conviction that we will not have a reoccurrence.

“If they did a thorough job, why the gaps? On the day we moved that motion, NNPC already mentioned the name of a particular company as responsible for bringing in that adulterated fuel. How come we are not able to see it here?

Nkem Nzoma-Abonta (PDP, Abia) said: “I thought the report would tell us the agency that imported this fuel and how and whether it was deliberate. How they arrived at their recommendations is not known to us.”