Some senior advocates and rights activists have called on the NNPC – which is the sole importer of petrol – to compensate motorists who bought adulterated fuel.
A senior advocate, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said the government was wrong to have given the NNPC the monopoly of petrol importation.
Adegboruwa said the oil firm cannot escape liability.
“If it is confirmed that there’s negligence on the part of the importer of the petroleum products, surely all those who bought the fuel are entitled to pursue their remedies against the agency especially where it affects vehicles among others,” Punch quoted him saying.
“They would be liable and this is because they have the monopoly of importing petroleum products to the country. So the citizens are limited in terms of their choice and so in that regard they have the responsibility of ensuring that they import what is suitable for use by the consumer.
“The NNPC can’t escape being held liable and not just the NNPC, I think the government itself and the reason is because there’s no reason to monopolise the importation of petroleum products. Also, the reason we are experiencing this is because the government has failed to repair our refineries.”
Also, Femi Falana (SAN), said the NNPC must compensate those who bought the contaminated petrol.
Falana advised victims to lodge a complaint with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
“The NNPC has to compensate consumers. They (consumers) should lodge a complaint with the consumer protection council,” he said.
“Victims can institute an action against the NNPC. The NNPC also has the right to sue those that sold the fuel to them.”
Another senior advocate, Norrison Quakers, said it was irresponsible for the NNPC to have imported contaminated fuel, adding that they could be dragged to court for doing so.
Quakers further argued that the marketers who bought the petrol from the NNPC ought to be compensated as well.
The senior advocate added, “If I was an independent marketer and I bought the product from NNPC for the supply and suddenly it turned out to be adulterated fuel , the NNPC is duty bound to reimburse and compensate me for my loss. I could start first with an administrative process to demand for the reimbursement and when they refuse to do that I can now institute an action in that regard because I bought it from them.
“Secondly, a car owner who goes to a filling station to buy petrol and his car develops a fault because some cars are very sensitive, can sue the supplier as well as the NNPC. It’s like a chain; you identify the primary source and the secondary. Honestly, it is highly irresponsible for the NNPC to have imported adulterated fuel. It means standards have really declined. How do you determine the fuel that is being sold, is it not at the point of purchase?
“How do you end up buying adulterated fuel of that magnitude? Those are questions begging for answers. The president must intervene, heads must roll. It is quite painful in the age of the way we do things in this country.”
The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, Ibrahim Rafsanjani, said this was scandalous to Nigeria, calling on the anti-corruption agencies in the country to investigate the matter.
He said, “I think this is an indictment on the NNPC, the sole importer of petroleum in Nigeria. They must be made to account for how it happened. Taxpayers’ money is used to import this petrol. This also goes to show the poor regulatory and supervision mechanism.”
Meanwhile, marketers estimate that their are some 100 million litres of adulterated petrol in the country.
