A row broke out yesterday between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and accused firms over the importation of adulterated petrol.
Some of the firms which allegedly imported the toxic petrol denied culpability.
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the authorities to hold accountable those involved in the importation of “substandard products”.
He also directed that consumers be protected.
NNPC Group Managing Director Mele Kyari on Wednesday night said the company’s investigation showed the presence of methanol in four petrol cargoes imported by its agents.
NNPC handles imports through a crude-for-fuel contract method known as Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) with consortia of local and foreign oil firms.
Kyari said: “Precisely on the 20th of January, NNPC received a report from our quality inspector on the presence of emulsion particles in the PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria from Artway Belgium.
“NNPC investigation revealed the presence of methanol in four of the PMS cargoes imported by our DSDP suppliers, including MRS, Emadeb, IH Energy, Britannia-U Consortium, Oando and also our own company, Duke Oil.
“Cargo quality certificate issued at load port by Amspec Belgium indicates that the gasoline complied with Nigeria’s specifications.”
To prevent the distribution of the toxic petrol, Kyari said, “we have ordered the quarantine of all un-evacuated volumes”.
