The Nigerian Senate, Wednesday, July 3, 2024, raised serious concerns about the alarming influx of substandard petrol and diesel in the country.
Senator Asuquo Ekpeyong, in a matter of urgent national importance, observed that on June 16, 2024, a report revealed that 12 diesel cargoes totaling 660 kilotons were exported by refineries to Lome, Togo for further distribution to West African markets, mainly Nigeria.
The quality of this diesel, he further said, was below Nigerian standards in terms of flash and sulfur levels.
According to him, despite the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) recently revising diesel import standards in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, it has been unable to enforce compliance with these standards.
The Senate therefore has launched an investigation into the importation of hazardous petroleum products in the country. It set up an ad-hoc committee, to launch an investigation into the continued importation of hazardous petroleum products, and dumping of substandard diesel into Nigeria.
Again Ekpeyong avered that the NMDPRA has continued to issue import licences for diesel and jet, despite sufficient local production capacity.
As the lawmakers expressed anger over what they described as sabotage and a clear failure of the objectives of the Petroleum Industry Act, the Upper Chamber asserted that those found culpable in the illicit act must face the wrath of the law.
Meanwhile, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has corroborated views by other lawmakers, that the issues raised within the PIA should be reviewed, not as an act of witch-hunting anyone, but to set the records straight.
The Ad-hoc committee to investigate the allegation, chaired by the Senate leader, has been given three weeks to report back to the house.
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