NNPC Raises the Alarm on Diversion of Petrol by Marketers to unknown destinations

Concerned that the nationwide scarcity of petrol has refused to ease despite its efforts to flood the market with the product, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has raised the alarm over the alleged diversion of trucks of petrol meant for Abuja and other major cities to unknown destinations, where they are sold at high prices.
But some major marketers and depot owners, who spoke to THISDAY on the condition of anonymity, have blamed the NNPC for the diversion, alleging that the corporation had directed that most of the trucks that load petrol in Lagos should discharge in Abuja and the Suleija axis “as if these two cities were the only towns in Nigeria”.
The marketers have also accused officials of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) at the depots of collecting between N70,000 and N100,000 bribe per truck to help the owners divert to other destinations by manipulating the agency’s online monitoring mechanism, Project Aquila, which was designed to check the diversion of petroleum products.
The spokesman of NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, however, stated that the marketers have no excuse for diverting products allocated to them by the corporation.
“We are doing our best. All NNPC stations have fuel. Why are the marketers diverting products? Why are they not selling in their filling stations? Why are they selling to black marketers? They are just indicting themselves,” Alegbe said.
Also, the spokesman of PEF, Mr. Goddy Nnadi, told THISDAY that the allegation against officials of the agency was false and baseless, insisting that the officials of the agency do not have control on the information concerning each truck, which he said, is dispatched electronically from depot to depot.

– THISDAY