Buhari Orders DSS, EFCC, Others To End Petrol Scarcity
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the creation of a 14-man committee to put an end to the horror and restore calm to the volatile downstream sector of the petroleum industry as petrol shortage chokes the economy.
Mr. Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State, serves as the committee’s alternate chairperson. The President chairs it in his position as Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The National Economic Adviser to the President, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Member (EFCC), and the Commandant-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps are also members of the committee (NSCDC).
The Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Chairman of the Nigerian Midstream and Member Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, and the Special Advisor (Special Duties) to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources make up the Steering Committee. The Secretary will be the Technical Advisor (Midstream) to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
In a statement, Sylva promised that the Steering Committee will see to it that petroleum products were distributed and supplied in a transparent and effective manner all over the nation.
Other terms of responsibility include ensuring national strategic stock management, visibility on the rehabilitation program for NNPC Limited refineries, and end-to-end tracking of petroleum products, particularly gasoline, to determine daily national consumption and eradicate smuggling.
Sylva said that he had instructed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to strictly enforce adherence to the ex-depot and retail rates for PMS that had been authorized by the government.
In addition, the minister has given the NMDPRA instructions to make sure that NNPC Limited, the nation’s supplier of last resort, fulfills its domestic supply obligations for PMS and other petroleum products.
He emphasized the need to defend the interests of the average Nigerian from price gouging on other deregulated items including AGO, DPK, and LPG.
“The Federal Government will not allow misguided elements to bring untold hardship upon the citizenry and attempt to discredit government’s efforts in consolidating the gains made thus far in the oil and gas sector of the economy,” the statement added.
