Minister of State Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva said yesterday that the perpetrators of imported toxic petrol will be unraveled after a probe by the Federal Government.
Sylva said: “There’ll be a major investigation to unravel everything and then let’s 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 people’s vehicles must have also been damaged. That is also going to be taken into consideration in dealing with the situation.”
According to an anonymous source, Sylva’s statement unsettled officials of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The NMDPRA is a department in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, not a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited as earlier reported.
NMDPRA is responsible for the inspection of imported petroleum products.
“Those in the unit are jittery”, a source told reporters last night.
While speaking with State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Sylva said he met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday over the matter.
“I’m not in a position to disclose the identities of the companies, but there are some issues and we are actively tackling it.
“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 NNPC and maybe NMDPRA, but we’re actively handling it and I want to assure you that the problem will be a thing of the past very soon,” he said.
