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• Orders NMDPRA to sanction erring filling stations
• FEC approves N117bn for Oloibiri oil and gas museum, research centre
• Assures that Nigeria Air will fly soon
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government has blamed the oil market interest in profiteering for the high cost of fuel in some parts of the country.
This is even as it has reiterated its directive to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to sanction erring filling stations.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, stated this while fielding questions from the State House of the Correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chambers.
The majority of Nigerians in some parts of the country now pay as high as N200 and N650 for a litre of petrol, above the official pump price.
Sylva, while corroborating what the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, said earlier when he briefed the council, promised that the distribution challenges associated with the current scarcity would not hinder the operations of the election.
Meanwhile, the council has approved N117 billion for the construction of the Oloibiri Oil and Gas Museum and Research Center, more than six decades after oil was discovered in commercial quantities in the town.
The minister said: “Council has approved a contract for the construction of the Oloibiri Oil Museum and Research Center to Messrs Julius Berger PLC, at the sum of N117 billion, with a completion timeframe of 30 months. This project has been on the drawing board for so long. The first time foundation stone was laid for this project in the early 80s by President Shehu Shagari.
“So, this actually is a major milestone and it is expected to be a major legacy of Mr President in the Niger Delta.”
Asked how he will ensure that petroleum scarcity will not have an impact on the elections, Sylva said: “This is quite unfortunate, we are not happy at all about what is going on. Every hand is on the deck. As I said earlier, the Ministry of Petroleum is not in control of all the factors that lead to scarcity in the sense that there are Forex issues as well as other issues. But at the moment today, there is supply, but unfortunately, we are experiencing some bottlenecks with the distribution and movement of the product to various destinations for now.
“I want to assure you that everything is being done; the NNPC Limited, NMDPRA, the marketers, everybody’s hands are on deck to ensure that this problem is resolved and to also inform you today we had a briefing from INEC and INEC has also engaged NNPC and NNPC have assured INEC that petroleum products supply to INEC will not be a problem and so that will not likely affect the election at all.”
Asked what the government was doing to alleviate the hardship brought by fuel scarcity and why he was turning a blind eye to the hardship, the minister said: “We have reports of profiteering by marketers, and I’ve directed NMDPRA to sanction anybody who profiteers on this kind of situation.
“I mean, we cannot stand by and watch our citizens being exploited by marketers. But of course, I’ve given that directive and I don’t know if it has not taken effect. I don’t know the details of how far that directive has been carried out. But I’m going to still further give that directive if that is still the situation, but definitely, we are not paying a blind eye at all.”
On if the monitoring agencies under his ministry were still effective to bite when carrying out orders, he said: “There are laws. You know how these things happen, there are definitely laws and this is a democratic system. Of course, they can’t go against the law themselves, the regulators can’t also go against the law. So it is only through the processes provided for by law that these regulations can be carried out. So I will direct an NMDPRA further to ensure that nobody profiteers on the citizens of Nigeria.”
The Ministry of Aviation also got approval for the Airport maintenance and technical support for Mallam Amino Kano airport for the sum of N712 million.
The minister, Hadi Sirika, said: “So, today in Council, Aviation had one memo and this memorandum is a contract that was awarded to CCECC and it is for the airport maintenance and technical support at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano and for a period of 12 months and the sum of the contract is N721,266,733.64 and the memorandum was approved.“
Asked when Nigeria Air flying will begin flying, Sirika said: “Nigeria Air will soon start flying, we’ve got the aircrafts ready, they’re painted in the colours. We’ve crossed all the Ts and dotted the Is. We’re at stage five of the AOC issuance by the NCAA. Once that is done, the airline will begin to fly.“
Asked how many days from now will that happen, the ministers said: “
“Well, because the issuance of the AOC is in the hands of the NCAA, but I know it will be very soon, with an emphasis on soon. So as soon as we get the AOC, then we fly.”
Asked if the court case by other airline operators against Nigeria Air has no bearing on it, he said: “There’s no injunction against Nigeria Air’s operation, to my knowledge.
“…The grievances by some airlines, for example, United, Azman, Max Air, Air Peace, if you are referring to that case that they instituted. I have no comment about it.
“I thought you were talking about something different, but if it’s that case, you have asked me before on this platform and I told you that it’s subjudice, it’s in court, so I can’t talk about it.”
