Dirty petrol: Government to compensate owners of damaged cars

The Federal Government says it will consider compensation for owners of cars damaged from the dirty petrol which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) imported into the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari has also ordered a full investigation into the matter, the outcome of which BusinessDay learned may affect the top management of the NNPC.

Minister of state for petroleum resources, Timipre Sylva, while briefing State House journalists on Wednesday after the virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC), meeting presided over by Buhari, said the president has approved investigations into the supply of the adulterated petrol to the country, which has given motorists serious concerns the last few days.

Speaking on possible sanctions for those responsible for the import, Sylva said it was too early to jump to such conclusions, but assured that “There’ll be a major investigation to unravel everything and then let’s really get to the bottom of it before we can come back and tell you what is going to happen to the culprits.

“We know that some vehicles must have also been damaged, that is also going to be taken into consideration in dealing with the situation.”

According to him, the decision to probe followed a briefing on the issue to President Muhammadu Buhari, with the aim of getting to the bottom of the matter. Sylva cautioned against drawing conclusions before the investigation is completed.

The minister also declined requests for the identity of the importers saying “I’m not in a position to disclose the identities of the companies, but there are some issues and we are actively tackling them.

“Nobody has, before now, checked for methanol in our fuel, it’s not very usual and this is the first time this is happening and NNPC is very much up to the task.

“I will also convey your question to the NNPC and maybe the Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, but we’re actively handling it and I want to assure you that the problem will be a thing of the past very soon.”

The minister also revealed that FEC granted approval granted for the construction of the 17 storey local content building in Yenagoa at the cost of N1.817 billion, being supervised by his ministry.

“You will recall that in 2020, Mr. President already commissioned that project. There were some ancillary works, that had to be done to connect some of the buildings and that was now presented to the council for the sum of N1.817 billion. This now closes out this contract and we have told the contractor this is the full and final payment for everything.

“So, this is the end of this project and we have completely delivered this to Nigerians.”

Minister of the interior, Rauf Aregbesola, on his part said the council granted approval of Nigerian citizenship, to 286 foreign nationals out of 600 applications received. The application was made by the Advisory Committee on Nigeria.

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The Nigerian government had in 2017, granted similar approvals to 335 foreign nationals citizenship.

Aregbesola, while providing further breakdown, said 208 persons were granted citizenship by naturalisation, while 78 others were granted citizenship by registration.

He said the persons approved by the council cut across various countries. He said another set is expected to be presented by the end of the first quarter or latest by the middle of the year.

In his presentation, the minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, said FEC approved a contract for the replacement of Aviation Operations (AvO) at the cost of N12,097,215,800.09.

“So, today in council, a memo was presented by us in aviation. And the amount of the contract to be awarded whose purpose is to replace our AVO bridges is N12,097,215,800.09, which is for 12 months and it will include 7.5 percent VAT.

“This contract is not only for supplying but it’s also for installation and maintenance, including spare parts, and is awarded to a company called Gulf of Africa International Limited.