Group Alleges Connivance Between NNPC, NMDPRA In Recent Fuel Crisis

President Muhammadu Buhari has been called by a coalition of civil society organizations to sack the leaders of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

The CSOs claimed collusion between NMDPRA and the NNPC in the persisting gasoline crisis at a news conference organized by the Youths Arise For Undiluted Leadership and Development Initiative, YAULDI, warning that their activities contradict the spirit of the Petroleum Industry Act.

The CSOs also urged President Buhari to intervene in the country’s persistent fuel issue, claiming that utilizing pensioners from one organization to function as regulators in another does not bode well for Nigeria.

Read also: NURTW Members In Ekiti Attack  Colleague For Supporting APC Guber Candidate

On behalf of the coalition, Akarame Lucky and Ifunanya Ogboma issued a statement warning that a sector regulator should be “strong, proactive, assiduous, and protective of public interest,” as the NMDPRA was not during the recent fuel crisis.

The organization demanded that the President form an Independent Panel of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the NNPC’s and its contractors’ importation of tainted petroleum into the country.

It argued that the NNPC retains responsible for importing petrol into the country under the Petroleum Industry Act, as well as sole culpability for any violations of the process of carrying out that statutory obligation.

“The NNPC’s GMD has provided no rational explanation, no feasible remedy to the ongoing scarcity, and has appeared completely befuddled.” These situations frequently lead to a loss of trust in government.

“It is now a matter of national security and overriding public interest for the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva; the GMD of NNPC and CEO of NMDPRA (Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency) to present the findings of their investigations into the importation of adulterated petroleum products to the public.”

“Brittania-U, AY Mai Kifi, Emmadeb, and Hide-Energy, the four organizations previously named, have all denied any wrongdoing. So, who brought the tainted gasoline into Nigeria? Who was the one to certify its quality? Why is the downstream regulator acting so rashly and ineptly?

Read Also:  Breaking: Lekan Balogun Appointed Staff Of Office As 42nd Olubadan

“It is unacceptable for the head of a public regulator in charge of a sensitive sector of the economy to be jetting around the world while our citizens suffer so much as a result of the regulator’s abdication of its statutory responsibilities,” the group said.