The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) yesterday allayed fears of an impending fuel scarcity as a result of the manipulation of the fuel importation regime by a group within the corporation.
Major oil marketers who were aggrieved by the federal government’s decision to allow NNPC take full charge of fuel importation into the country, had accused an unnamed clique within the corporation of feeding fat from millions of litres imported into Nigeria through the daily collection of $500,000 (about N75 million) cut from international commodity traders.
But in a statement yesterday, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, Group General Manager, Public Affairs of the NNPC described the allegation as cheap blackmail while assuring Nigerians of adequate supply of petroleum products till the end of the year and beyond.
He described the bribery claim as a poorly choreographed pack of lies which can not stand the test of due diligence and common sense investigation.
“Look, $500,000 or N75m commission everyday is a lot of money anywhere in the world. So how can anybody collect such kickback as being alleged by the major marketers without any trace or tracking in these days of forensic accounting where every dollar paid into the financial system can be traced?” Ajuonuma quizzed.
He also drew attention to the seeming irregularity in the allegation story.
“You can see from the serial inconsistencies in the said allegation story that it’s all lies and imaginary concoctions. First, they claimed that the $500,000 was being paid everyday to the so called cartel to sustain the importation contracts. When they realised that their story was a hard sell, 24 hours later the tale was amended to the effect that the cut was imposed on every ship that berths in Nigeria,” he said.
On the allegation that the NNPC had abandoned the Atlas Cove Storage Facility and the Mosimi depot in preference for Yinka Folawiyo Oil and Capital Oil depots because of the alleged cuts some officials of the corporation were getting from the private depot owners, Dr. Ajuonuma described the allegation as untrue.
He stated that for the first time in many years the Mosimi depot did not record a single case of pipeline rupture for a whole month.
“This feat enabled pumping of products to peak at 100 percent in Mosimi.”
The situation at the Atlas Cove is improving by the day despite the challenge posed by the damage of the facility by some militants earlier in the year, the feedback from recent reappear work is encouraging,” he said.
He confirmed that the Atlas Cove Jetty which was damaged on the last July has been reconnected to the depot through a temporary bye-pass and a ship has been programmed to berth there this weekend. Therefore he argued that the depot is fully connected to the discharge point as was the case before the militants struck.
He stated that despite the lethargic attitude of major marketers towards product availability since the April/May 2009 fuel crisis, the NNPC has risen up to the challenge head-on.
“Today serious activity is going on via trucking to ensure that all depots are wet with supply. And I can tell you that over 26 cargoes of PMS and eight DPK cargoes are already on Nigerian waters and are being discharged daily through Apapa Import Reception Facility, offshore SPM, New Atlas Cove Jetty and a number of private depots. The nation strategic reserve can last for PMS 40 days forward consumption while DPK stands at 44 days forward consumption as at today.”
The NNPC spokesman called on major marketers to cooperate with NNPC rather than resorting to cheap blackmail and hate campaign.
Meanwhile, the much celebrated Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) may have run into fresh trouble as senators shut out in a recent parley between the oil chieftains and members of the Senate committee on petroleum have perfected plots to frustrate the passage of the bill on the floor of the senate.
Source alleged at the weekend that some senators said to have been shut out in the just concluded ‘juicy interactive session’ between the committee and oil companies in Calabar, Cross River state capital are alleged to have perfected plot to frustrate the consideration of the report of the committee when presented on the floor of the senate next week.
Although there are no confirmation that the committee members compromised in their work, but Source however confirmed that senators who are not in any of the petroleum related committees of the senate are not comfortable with the reported romance between the lawmakers and oil chieftains.