The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked for an independent commission of inquiry to probe the circumstances around the distribution of petrol with methanol quantity above Nigeria’s specification.
The federal government had, on Wednesday, said it would investigate the supply of the off-spec petrol recently imported into the country.
Speaking on the development in a statement issued on Thursday, PDP spokesperson, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, said the party did not trust the internal probe of the federal government.
The opposition party also accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of trying to cover up certain dirty deals pertaining to the infraction.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alerts Nigerians of the attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to provide official cover for APC leaders reportedly involved in the criminal importation of toxic fuel into our country,” the statement read.
It added: “Against this backdrop, the PDP rejects the announced internal investigation of this terrible crime by the government as the APC administration cannot be trusted, given its manifest predilection to shield the APC leaders involved.
“Nigerians note the various investigations instituted by the APC government in the past which ended without any meaningful outcome; notable among which was the manipulated EndSARS Report.
“The PDP therefore demands an Independent Commission of Enquiry to investigate all issues connected to the ‘APC Toxic Fuel ImportGate’. Those involved must be exposed and held accountable.
“Where was the toxic fuel imported from? Which company is the pre-inspection agent? How much was paid for the very cheap contaminated fuel and through which banks were payment effected? All documents relating to the transaction must be made public.”
Meanwhile, the federal government on Friday raised a technical panel to manage the fuel scarcity situation and ensure the situation returns to normalcy.
This came as retail marketers said they had yet to get any directive from the federal government on how to return the dirty fuel back to the government for cleaning.
The oil retailers’ disclosure came almost a week after the government said it had recalled the hundreds of millions of dirty fuel imported into the country from Europe.
The import of the contaminated fuel had almost grounded business activities across the country as long fuel queues litter major roads.
Speaking on how marketers were at crossroads over the crisis, the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, stated, “Some marketers still have the contaminated products in their stations and are not selling because of this. The products have not been returned yet due to the lack of clear cut directives on how it should be returned.
“Also, you need documents to enable you to move the tankers from your filling stations back to the place where the product is to be returned because if the police get you without the necessary accompanying documents, they will say you are involved in bunkering.”
However, the federal government has drafted a team of technical experts from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, MOMAN, DAPPMAN, and the downstream regulator, among other stakeholders to manage the crisis occasioned by the imported adulterated fuel.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the NNPC, Garba-Deen Muhammad, confirmed that a technical committee had been set up to look into the matter and how the contaminated products would be managed.
He said, “The first thing is to ensure that it is recalled and not in circulation. There are various ways of handling this kind of product; we will leave that to the technical committee that has been set up.
“This committee is drawn from MOMAN, DAPPMAN, downstream regulator, NNPC, from all stakeholders. They all have technical people and know the best way to handle this kind of product.”
On the issues of compensation for people whose vehicles were damaged by the adulterated petrol, an official of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources stated that the minister would constitute an investigative team.
“There is going to be an investigative team and this issue is going to be part of the terms of reference for the team,” the official, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorisation, said.
The source added, “So it is only when the team is set up that you can be talking about compensation. It is the investigation that will determine the level of compensation.
“It is going to be part of the terms of reference. But it has not been set up. So it is after that that you can talk about compensation and others. Very soon the team should be constituted and the minister is working on it.
“He’s in dialogue with the President and stakeholders to know the next step”
The presence of contaminated petrol in Nigeria was officially confirmed on Tuesday by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The NMDPRS had announced that some quantity of PMS with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification was discovered in the supply chain.
It said the contaminated product had been isolated, a development that led to a shortage in supply and triggered widespread scarcity of PMS nationwide.
“To ensure vehicular and equipment safety, the limited quantity of the impacted product has been isolated and withdrawn from the market, including the loaded trucks in transit,” the NMDPRA had said in a statement.
It also noted that the “source supplier has been identified and further commercial and appropriate actions shall be taken by the authority and the NNPC Limited.”
Nigeria does not refine crude oil due to the dormancy of its refineries, hence the NNPC imports the commodity from international refiners. This implies that the source supplier is an overseas firm.
The NMDPRA further stated that the NNPC had intensified efforts at increasing the supply of petrol into the market in order to bridge any unforeseen supply gap.