Off-Spec fuel: Absence of complaints stalls investigation –FCCPC

By Adewale Sanyaolu

The Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Council (FCCPC) has said the absence of complainants impacted by the off-spec fuel imported into the country recently has stalled investigations into the matter.

Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of FCCPC, Mr.Babatunde Irukera, stated this at a collaborative engagement with the media on the theme ‘‘Nuts and Bolts of Market Regulation’’ held in Lagos at the weekend.

Irukera said despite the efforts of the FCCPC in ensuring that impacted motorists get redress through the creation of various complaints channels, especially email, there was no significant feedback from those affected.

Regrettably, he said FCCPC was unable to proceed with investigations without a body of impacted motorists.

He added that as a first step towards addressing motorists’ complaint, the FCCPC in conjunction with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDRA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) created a framework in this regard.

He disclosed that part of the framework as advised by the NNPC was for those with complaints as a first point of call to get in touch with the marketers which was where the problem emanated from, saying this worked perfectly well.

‘‘However, we understood that some problems could not be resolved at that level and that needed to be escalated further. We put out a statement that people should send emails to us.But that in itself also has a challenge. Will you take an Okada rider to start looking for where to send emails.

“So ultimately, we believe the strongest mechanism is people going right back to where the problem occurred.

In reality, we don’t have a significant feedback that there people out there impacted that nothing was being done about it. Maybe that was a disconnect or maybe it’s a reality that people have just moved on and are not trying to seek remedies. Whichever way, we are unable to proceed without a body of injured parties.”

“Our focus now is to ensure that this doesn’t happen again and keeping the framework for the complaints we get open so that we can resolve that. I am sure that there are that many complaints on ground where people are stuck and nothing is happening.”