NMDPRA Cracks Down on Fuel Fraud, Seals MRS, Stageoil Stations in Rivers

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has sealed two filling stations in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for under-dispensing petroleum products to motorists and other members of the public.

The sealed facilities are MRS Filling Station on Azikiwe Road and Stageoil Filling Station along Aba Road, both in Port Harcourt.

The NMDPRA team also inspected other filling stations during the exercise, including the NNPC Mega Filling Station located at Lagos Bus Stop in the old Port Harcourt Township, Reinoil, TotalEnergies and NNPC Filling Station in Trans Amadi.

The action followed a routine surveillance and enforcement exercise conducted by the NMDPRA in the metropolis on Thursday to ascertain the quantity and quality of petroleum products dispensed by retail outlets, as well as compliance with safety standards.

Speaking to newsmen after the exercise, the NMDPRA Executive Director, Health, Safety, Environment and Community, Dr Mustapha Lamorde, said the inspection was aimed at protecting consumers from being short-changed by filling station owners and operators.

Lamorde said the authority conducted checks on the quantity of products dispensed, their quality and the safety of the retail outlets.

“What we did in the field basically is three things: one, to look at the quantity that you’re buying fuel and its relative to what you are selling and the quantity.

“Also the quality of the product you’re buying, whether it is fit for purpose, whether it is on spec and in conformance with our national quality specification. And importantly, the safety of the operation of the retail outlets,” he stated.

Lamorde further said the surveillance covered petroleum products including Premium Motor Spirit, Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel, and DPK, otherwise known as kerosene.

He added that samples were randomly taken for on-the-spot screening as part of the authority’s evidence-based regulatory process.

“Some of the retail outlets are actually under-dispensing. And you can see that what we did immediately is to seal off some of these retail outlets, and then the necessary regulatory action will follow, basically sanctions and all that,” Lamorde said.

Lamorde, however, revealed that the inspection found that one of the filling stations visited was over-dispensing without knowing it, directing the operator to stop sales and recalibrate its pump before resuming operations to prevent further losses.

He stated that stations found to be compliant were encouraged to maintain the standard, emphasising that the ultimate objective was to ensure that Nigerians got exactly what they paid for.

“The end game for Nigerians, for consumers, is to make sure that they get what they are paying for. If you’re buying fuel, you get the quantity that you’re paying for. Secondly, you get the quality, which is very, very important for your health, for the environment and also for your vehicle,” Lamorde said.

While debunking claims in some quarters that staff of the authority were not up and doing, Lamorde explained that such surveillance exercises were continuous, with NMDPRA field officers deployed across the country to monitor petroleum retail outlets.

The NMDPRA official assured consumers in Rivers State and other parts of the country that the authority would continue to enforce compliance and sanction operators found violating regulations.

“We want to assure Nigerians, and even our brothers here in Rivers State and all over the country, that we continue to do our job to make sure that the quality of product that they get is on spec and also they pay what they pay for, they get what they pay for,” he said.

Lamorde urged members of the public to report suspected infractions through the authority’s official communication channels, promising that appropriate sanctions would be imposed on erring operators.

He also spoke shortly after the inspection at the NMDPRA office in Port Harcourt, where a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding was signed for enhanced petroleum product testing, quality assurance and laboratory development in Nigeria.

The MoU was signed by Lamorde on behalf of the NMDPRA Chief Executive, Mallam Rabiu Umar; the Managing Director of Bureau Veritas, Daniel Wilbert; and the Group Chief Executive Officer of Ace Energy Group, Christopher Nwokolo.

The partnership is expected to strengthen product testing and quality assurance capabilities in the Nigerian petroleum industry.

Giving a summary of the MoU, Lamorde said, “The partnership basically is to strengthen our capacity in terms of our field analysis, our methods, standardize our Standard Operating Procedures to benchmark ourselves with international best practices. We are talking about ISO certification.”

Lamorde, however, said the NMDPRA still retains “that authority, accountability and responsibility of product quality”.