Hameed Ali, the comptroller-general of customs, has asked
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to set up filling stations
in neighbouring countries to tackle oil smuggling.
Ali said this on Monday at an interactive session organised
by the house of representatives committee on finance on the 2022-2024 medium
term expenditure framework/fiscal strategy paper (MTEF/FSP) for ministries,
departments and agencies (MDAs) in Abuja.
Nigeria has seen a surge in the activities of oil smugglers
in recent times, impacting the nation’s economy.
In June, NNPC had said smuggling across the borders
increased the consumption of premium motor spirit (PMS) to 102 million litres
per day.
Abdulahi Saidu, a member of the committee from Niger, had
asked Ali to explain the surge in oil smuggling leading to a daily rise in the
consumption of PMS.
Responding, Ali said customs had advised NNPC to establish
petrol stations in neighbouring countries.
This, he said, would tackle oil smuggling and enable the
country to make revenue and “completely diminish the anxiety or the penchant
for smuggling”.
“We have also proposed to NNPC, if the price differential is
the problem, we have our banks — Zenith Bank, GT Bank —operating in the West
coast, what stops us,” he said.
“NNPC or Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) should
establish petrol stations in our neighbouring countries, and move these
products at the cost that we sell, and sell to this people, we will make money,
we have the market and by so doing we will completely diminish the anxiety or
the penchant for smuggling.
“If a Beninese will get the fuel at the price we are getting
and the cost of transportation, which is the minimal, there is no way he will
wait for people to import to him at twice the price. We have made this proposal,
we have made noise about it, no one seems to listen
“There is hardly anything we can do to stop the smuggling of
fuel outside the country because they use the creeks, they use land borders,
they use virtually everything possible, we cannot be everywhere, we must begin
to think out of the box. We should extend our petrol stations into these
countries. We should move these products there.
“If you recalled, when we closed the border, NNPC recorded a
drastic drop in fuel that is being released to the public, and all of a sudden,
we have opened four entrances on our land borders, and yet we have seen
historical increases in terms of the quantity being reported as being consumed
or released. This, I must say, we have a very porous border—a very lengthy
border and very porous.
“Secondly, we have, by the aid of the NNPC, created so many
filling stations right at the border, and Mr Chairman, these filling stations
get daily supply, and when they get these supplies, they release the supply in
the tank at night, and by the morning, it has been siphoned.”
Ali asked the committee to investigate the operations of DPR
in granting licenses to filling stations 20km close to the borders.
“That is why we said, filling stations that are 20km of the
border should not be given petroleum products. We must monitor DPR — are these
figures really what are being released? This thing keeps going up and down,” he
added.
“We had a series of meeting with the DPR, they said most of
those filling stations at the border are illegal, so we said, give us the names
and list of those illegal fuelling stations, then we will take care of the
legal ones, three years after, we have not received one name.
“These are the problems. There is a law that says that no
Nigerian fueling station should be established within 10km to the border. But
DPR will do their survey, they will issue licences to people to operate there.
Our concern is the inflow and outflow.”
James Faleke, chairman of the committee, rule that customs
provide the panel with details of all petrol stations within the 20km of the
borders.
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