Nigeria is one of the leading oil producers in Africa, but you鈥檙e probably reading this on a fuel station queue that leads to Jericho.
Pele dear. While we can鈥檛 help you hold the fuel attendant鈥檚 shirt when they tell you there鈥檚 no more fuel, we can tell you how this fuel scarcity mess started again. Here鈥檚 the gist, but first, a little backstory.
Who runs things and why does the price of fuel change?
As regulator, and resident big boys of Nigeria鈥檚 petroleum sector, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) manages the country鈥檚 refineries and is the only importer of petrol in Nigeria.
Before becoming the , there were other marketers importing the product. Nigeria used to run on a subsidy scheme that allowed other marketers in the country to buy fuel directly from the international oil market at the landing price (initial cost) and resell at a cheaper price to you. The NNPC made this possible by covering the cost.
Let me explain
If the international market was selling petrol at 鈧174 per litre and Nigerians bought at 鈧142 per litre, the difference is paid off by NNPC. That鈥檚 what oil people call fuel subsidy. but it was always a part of the national budget.
After a few years, the government had to shake things up because people were hiding subsidy money inside their agbadas. Marketers also struggled to maintain access to the international oil market as the dollar went up. These issues influenced the periodic cycles of fuel scarcity we鈥檝e experienced over the years. So in 2017, the government made the NNPC Nigeria鈥檚 only importer.
When the NNPC took over, was initiated. It鈥檚 like trade and barter: NNPC gives refiners an amount of crude oil and they return petrol of the same value to NNPC and selected to sell at.
Do you feel like an oil guru yet?
Now to the juicy part.
On Monday, Nigerians woke up to knocked engines and soon the internet was host to a number of videos of angry Nigerians demanding an explanation for these issues that followed buying fuel in their cars. As tension continued to rise, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) confirmed suspicions.
The fuel in circulation had been contaminated with an alarming percentage of methanol, above Nigeria鈥檚 approved specification. With this announcement, filling stations who believed they had received thos contaminated fuel started to sell less or not at all while the issue is resolved.
So, who鈥檚 taking the fall for this oversight?
After being tagged in multiple videos online, MRS made the first move on Monday, to let us know that this saga had absolutely nothing to do with them.
MRS that basically said, 鈥淭he NNPC is the sole importer of fuel so please don鈥檛 drag us for rubbish.鈥 They claimed that they were not aware of the contamination when they received the petrol supply shipped from Belgium by the NNPC鈥檚 trading arm, Duke Oil.
Next on the podium of accusers was the Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari. In his statement, Kyari and are the ones to blame. He also threw in Oando, Duke Oil and a consortium consisting of Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U into the mix of people to hold accountable.
Who’s to blame now?
We thought the mind games were over until a journalist, , came out with incriminating details that questioned the credibility of NNPC in a tweet.
The tweet mentioned Duke Oil again, but this time, in association with a shady law firm called . From Belgium to Panama.
While we know nothing significant about this entity that has worked with NNPC since 2015, David Hundeyin drops the main bombshell that leaves me questioning why I鈥檓 still here typing. Apparently, the law firm is associated with crimes in Panama.
.
From what we鈥檝e gathered, they have been implicated in criminal acts associated with money laundering. Allegedly, they have helped and public figures with the creation of offshore shell companies meant to hide money in a tax haven. , their clients have included world leaders like Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Montenegro President Milo Djukanovic and Jordanian Kind Abdulla II. Sadly, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The end
So why is Nigeria鈥檚 regulatory body for our most lucrative resource associated with a company linked to this firm?
There are no answers from NNPC yet.
What do we know for certain? Crazy things are happening and you need to know them too.
