NNPC To Inject 2.1bn Litres Of Product Nationwide Before February Ending – Kyari

From Emmanuel Iyoho

ABUJA

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has assured Nigerians that about 2.1 billion litres of the product will be injected into the system before the end of the month.

NNPC group managing director (GMD), Mele Kyari, disclosed this recently during an interaction with the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the circumstances surrounding the importation of the adulterated fuel into the country.

Kyari, who regretted the damage done to the vehicles of motorists by the toxic petrol, and the resulting scarcity as well as long queues at filling stations in various parts of the country,urged Nigerians to avoid panic-buying of fuel, saying  thedistribution of the product would normalise in the weeks ahead. 

He said as part of measures to address the situation, the company had directed all its depots and outlets to begin 24 hours operations across the country.

Kyari appeared before the lawmakers amid growing concerns over fuel scarcity which has worsened in Abuja, Lagos, and some parts of the country where hundreds of motorists were left stranded on long fuel queues.

In the same vein, the NNPC group executive director (Downstream), Mr Adetunji Adeyemi, who briefed reporters on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the company was already accelerating petrol distribution.

He said several million litres of petrol were in stock, Adeyemialso revealed that the NNPC was expecting about 2.3 billion litres of petrol in the country by the end of the month.

He said the company had constituted a monitoring team with the support of the authority and other security agencies to ensure the smooth distribution of petrol nationwide.

Recall that the House in a motion by Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno recently  at plenary, directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Limited to immediately suspend the four firms said to be involved in purchasing and supply of the product.

It also asked NNPC to submit the deeds of purchase to parliament for scrutiny, while also mandating all  relevantcommittees including   Petroleum (Downstream), Petroleum (Upstream), to look into  details of purchases of petroleum products made from January till date to ascertain whether they met international standards.

The lawmakers also resolved that the joint committee would also investigate the roles played by Standards Organization of Nigeria, SON, Navy and all other regulatory agencies in the petroleum sector in the supply of the contaminated product.

This is sequel to a motion presented by Monguno bemoaning adulteration of petroleum products, adding that it is an illegal and clandestine practice which pose severe risks to public health and automobile engines among others.