Buhari angry over adulterated fuel in circulation, ‘There will be a major investigation,’ _ Sylva

The federal government has announced that there will be a major investigation to unravel the cause of the unsafe quantity of methanol in petrol imported into the country.

Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, said this on Wednesday while responding to questions from Statehouse correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa Abuja.

The Minister did not disclose the identities of the companies involved but said they will be made known after the investigations are concluded.

“There will be a major investigation to unravel everything. We need to get to the bottom of it before we can come back to tell you what will happen to the culprits,” the Minister said.

When asked if companies found culpable will be blacklisted, Sylva responded that the government is not in a rush to mete out punishment until the actual cause has been detected.

“Although the matter did not come up at the meeting because I had briefed the president on it yesterday, the matter is being taken very seriously, the government is setting up a major investigation panel to unravel all those responsible”.

Speaking concerning Nigerians whose cars were damaged after buying the fuel, the Minister said their situation will be put into consideration.

“We know that some people’s vehicles must have been damaged, that is also going to the taken into consideration in dealing with the situation,” Sylvia said.

The Federal Government on Tuesday announced that it has identified and subsequently dealt with what may have caused panic buying of petrol in some parts of Lagos and Abuja.

Meanwhile, President Buhari on Tuesday was said to have expressed anger over the contaminated petrol in circulation across the country, a development that has disrupted the nation’s fuel supply chain for several days.

The president was said to have therefore ordered that the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, should be queried immediately.

Buhari, who was said to be visibly worried over the situation, leading to the return of long fuel queues in parts of the country, especially in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun, Port Harcourt, and others, instructed the Minister of State, Petroleum, Mr. Timipre Sylva, to ask Ahmed to explain how the product came into the country.

An impeccable presidency source disclosed that Buhari felt that the first point to begin to unravel how the product came into the country and invariably began circulating should be the agency created in 2021 in line with the Petroleum Industry Act which mandates her to act as the “police” of the downstream and midstream sector.