The effort of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to end cross-border smuggling of petroleum products in Nigeria has received a boost as the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) has pledged its support to the corporation to end the menace.
National president of RTEAN, Osakpawan Eriyo, who made the pledge at the National Executive Council meeting of the Association in Abuja Tuesday, said as stakeholders in the Downstream Petroleum Sector, his association would support “any initiative by the NNPC to restore sanity to the Industry and we will be with you to fish out every unscrupulous element in the system’’.
He assured that no member of his association would engage or aid cross border smuggling, hoarding and products diversion, saying the present NNPC management has brought about positive changes in the downstream as Nigerians no longer queue endlessly for petrol at filling stations.
Presenting an award to the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, for Leadership Innovation and Repositioning, Eriyo said, “We are happy because there are positive changes in the country’s Petroleum Industry, we support you, if a man does what is right he deserves an award, hence we decided to honour the GMD and his team.”
Speaking earlier on the state of the Petroleum Downstream, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, represented by the Managing Director of Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Umar Ajiya, disclosed that to sustain the present seamless supply of petrol across the country, the NNPC was adding additional 2 billion litres of PMS to its stock every month with effect from April 2019.
He said all products were available and at government-approved prices, emphasising that the price of petrol remained N145.00 per litre, while calling on RETEAN not to allow their members to be short-changed and report any marketer who contravenes the law to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
The NNPC, he said, had embarked on the revamp of its refineries, which began with the Port Harcourt Refining Company, PHRC, in order to reduce the importation of petroleum products in the country.
Ajiya received the award on behalf of the GMD.
Speaking on the awards, the Secretary-General of RTEAN, Yusuf Adeniyi, said the recipients were honoured not ‘’because of the office they occupy but because of the impact of their stewardship in the lives of Nigerians.”
