Minister of state for petroleum Timipre Sylva on Wednesday said there will be a major investigation into the circulation of an unsafe quantity of methanol in petrol imported into Nigeria.
Sylva said this during a media briefing after the Federal Executive Council meeting in the State House in Abuja.
He did not disclose the identities of the companies involved in the circulation of the adulterated petrol but said the government is not in a rush to mete out any measures until the actual cause has been decoded.
The minister said the Nigerian government will do an assessment of the number of vehicles damaged in the last few days as a result of the adulterated fuel.
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CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPR) Farouk Ahmed said a higher quantity of methanol quantity above Nigeria’s specification was discovered in a supply chain in the country.
Ahmed said the adulterated fuel could have caused panic buying of petrol in some parts of Lagos and Abuja.
“To ensure vehicular and equipment safety, the limited quantity of the impacted product has been isolated from the market, including those loaded in trucks,” Ahmed said.
He said NMDPR team in “conjunction with NNPC and other industry stakeholders will continue to monitor and ensure quality products are adequately supplied and distributed nationwide and urged Nigerians that there is no need to panic.
He disclosed that the sole supplier of the adulterated fuel has been identified and further commercial and appropriate actions shall be taken by the authorities and the NNPC.
“The NNPC Limited and all marketing companies have been directed to sustain sufficient distribution of petrol products in all retail outlets nationwide to avoid any scarcity,” Ahmed said.
“Meanwhile, the NNPC has intensified efforts at increasing the supply of petroleum products in the market in order to bridge any unforeseen supply gap.”
Long queues greeted many fueling stations on Tuesday morning in Lagos and Abuja. This led to gridlock in major parts of the state affecting traffic movement.
Motorists that were opportune to buy fuel waited for long hours while others opted for black market sellers to fuel their vehicles.
