President Muhammadu Buhari has said that those who imported off-specification petrol into Nigeria must “be held accountable for substandard services and or products sold by them.”
Last Tuesday, the federal government said methanol found in recently imported fuel exceeded Nigeria’s specification. The poor grade fuel had damaged vehicles. The order to withdraw it from the market had led to long queues at petrol stations in Lagos and Abuja especially.
On Wednesday, the managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Limited, Mele Kyari, disclosed that the suppliers of the contaminated fuel were MRS, Oando, Duke Oil and Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium.
The President’s order was contained in a statement by Garba Shehu. It read:
“In a reaction to the issue of petroleum product shortages linked to the inadvertent supply of products of foreign origin into the Nigerian market, President Buhari said the protection of consumer interests is a priority of the present administration and is ready to take all necessary measures to protect consumers from hazardous products, loss or injuries from the consumption of substandard goods.
“The President directed that in line with the law, service providers must make full disclosure of relevant information concerning the consumption of their products and that dissatisfied consumers are entitled to a proper redress of their complaints.”
The statement added that the president has given directives to the relevant government agencies to take every step in line with the laws of the country to ensure the respect and protection of consumers against market abuses and social injustices.