Those who brought in the adulterated fuel must be sanctioned
Regulation is a government function that cannot be outsourced. But in practically all the sectors of our national economy, consumers are unfairly made to bear the brunt of regulatory failures. No sector exemplifies this anomaly more than the oil and gas industry. Although President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly ordered investigation into how the country ended up with toxic fuel that has not only damaged several vehicles but also resulted in scarcity, what is needed is not just ‘anger’ but full accountability followed by sanctions and compensation.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has sole responsibility for fuel importation, and it uses domestic crude allocation for direct sales, direct purchase (DSDP) scheme by giving out crude in return for fuel. The NNPC works with oil trading companies, including its own, Duke Oil. Now, we are saddled with excuses. The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva argued that “nobody has, before now, checked for methanol in our fuel. It’s not very usual and this is the first time this is happening…” with the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari echoing same: “It is important to note that the usual quality inspection in both the load port in Belgium and our discharge ports in Nigeria do not include the test for percent of methanol content and therefore the additive was not detected by our quality inspectors.”
We understand that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is new, and NNPC is still the behemoth even when it is transitioning to a private company. But some people dropped the ball, and they should own up. If the NNPC doesn’t check for methanol, what does that say about their expert judgement as an intermediary and regulator? If you never specified methanol content and didn’t check for it, on what ground can you hold suppliers to account? When consumers drive into a filling station, they do so with the implicit assumption that someone who knows better has done the due diligence on their behalf. In this instance, the regulator either didn’t know its job or slept at the wheels.
A resurgence of fuel queues in some major cities across the country has exposed the mess in the sector and there is need to demand for accountability. Each time issues like the current adulterated fuel saga occur, the usual hysteria rises to unprecedented levels. After a week or two, it is business as usual, and the culprits (usually the high-heeled) walk away even without as little as a slap in wrist. In 2001, the country was inundated with a harvest of tragedies following the importation of killer kerosene by some identified marketers. Hundreds of hapless and helpless Nigerians died from explosions arising from the use of the product. Despite the public outcry and the loss of hundreds of lives across the country, nobody was brought to book or made to account for the carnage.
The lack of checks and balances in the subsidy scheme accounts for the current problem. Everything is now based on whatever NNPC claims: volume imported, subsidy due, amount due to the federation account (if any at all). The perverse incentives in this arrangement can only lead to all kinds of abuses.
In the current scenario of methanol-laced PMS, while the NNPC “reassurance of its capacity to restore sanity in the supply and distribution of quality Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)” is welcome, an unbiased inquest into the fuel import saga must be carried out with full disclosure. Beyond making allowances for adequate compensation to those whose vehicles were damaged by the compromised PMS, visiting serious sanctions on those whose acts of omission or commission led to the importation and distribution of the fuel is the first place to start to ensure deterrence.