‘Seun Ibukun-Oni, Abuja

 

DAILY COURIER – President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the constitution of a 14-man Steering Committee on Petroleum Products Supply and Distribution management.

 

The committee is chaired by President Buhari, in his capacity as the Minister of Petroleum Resources and Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State as the alternate chairman.

 

Other members of the committee are the Minister of Finance and Permanent Secretary; Ministry of Petroleum Resources, National Economic Adviser to the President, Director-General, Department of State Services (DSS), Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Member (EFCC), and Commandant-General, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)

 

The Steering Committee is composed of the Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission; Nigerian Midstream and Member Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA); Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited, Special Advisor (Special Duties) to the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources while the Technical Advisor (Midstream) to the Minister of State Petroleum Resources will serve as Secretary.

 

Sylva, in a statement, said the Steering Committee would ensure the transparent and efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.

 

Other terms of reference are to ensure national strategic stock management, visibility on the NNPC Limited refineries rehabilitation programme and ensure end-to-end tracking of petroleum products, especially petrol to ascertain daily national consumption and eliminate smuggling.

 

Sylva said he had directed the NMDPRA to ensure strict compliance with the government-approved ex-depot and retail prices for PMS.

 

The minister has further directed the NMDPRA to ensure that NNPC Limited, which is the supplier of last resort, meets the domestic supply obligation of PMS and other petroleum products in the country.

 

He said the interest of the ordinary Nigerian must protected from price exploitation on other deregulated products, such as AGO, DPK and LPG.

 

“The Federal Government will not allow misguided elements to bring untold hardship upon the citizenry and attempt to discredit government’s efforts in consolidating the gains made thus far in the oil and gas sector of the economy”, he added.