Lagosians woke up Sunday to find queues across most fuel stations especially in the Island, but by Tuesday morning, the queues extended to most areas of the mainland as only few fuel stations were selling products on Ikorodu Road and Oshodi Apapa Expressway.
Sources at the fuel depots say the long queues of motorists which were first noticed in Abuja two weeks ago before it fizzled out last week is as a result of presence of adulterated products in some parts of the country.The bad or poor quality product was also noticed a week ago in Awka in Anambra State and other parts of the nation.
It also revealed that relevant authorities who got to know of the development decided to stop or reduce distribution for proper investigation. This culminated in the emergence of long queues in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun and other states.
The National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi was quoted as saying that they are aware of the development.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, which replaced the defunct Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, is directly responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance in the nation’s downstream sector.
But the National President, Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria, OGSPAN, Colman Obasi, said: “Indeed, it is sad that our nation has degenerated to this level. Instead of embarking on industrialisation, including the construction of new refineries, we have degenerated to a point of importing and distributing poor quality products.
“NMDPRA is supposed to be the watchdog in the sector under the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA. Where is the agency? It has something to tell Nigerians.
“There are indications that the shutdown of our refineries and massive importation has opened our nation for suspected bad products.
“The regulatory agency and other government institutions should work toward ensuring that only quality petrol and other products are imported into the nation. We need to protect our citizens and the nation’s economy from danger.”
However, in a report, obtained from its website, NMDPRA, stated: “the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority was created in August 2021 in line with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 which provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry as well as development of Host Communities.
“Consequently, Mr President approved the appointment of Mr. Farouk Ahmed as the Authority Chief Executive of the NMDPRA as conveyed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva to run the day-to-day affairs of the new regulatory authority.
“NMDPRA’s encompasses a merger of three defunct regulatory agencies: Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Equalization Fund {Management} Board (PEFMB), the Midstream and Downstream Divisions of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). This birth has ushered a new dawn for establishing a progressive regulatory framework that encourages investment and full optimization of the midstream and downstream sector of the petroleum industry in Nigeria.
“The Authority is responsible for the regulation of the midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria which includes technical, operational, and commercial activities.”