*Impounded 174 vessels for various infractions
The Nigerian Navy on Thursday disclosed that a total of 202.9 million metric tonnes of premium motor spirit (PMS) was imported into the country between January 2015 and July 2022.
The Representative of the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Oluwagbemi, made the disclosure dueing a presentation before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the actual daily PMS consumption in the country.
According to him, from January to July this year, a total of 12.3 million metric tonnes of premium motor spirit was imported.
He said the import included those made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd, Pipelines and Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and the oil marketers.
He also revealed that the Nigerian Navy arrested 174 oil vessels for various offences between January 2017 and July 2022.
According to him, the vessels were handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for prosecution depending on the nature of the alleged offences.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Hon. Abdulkadir Sa’ad, commended the Nigerian Navy for availing the investigative panel of vital information which he said would help them greatly in their investigation.
He expressed disappointment on the absence of many of the key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) invited to make presentations to the committee.
Sa’ad warned the defaulting MDAs and other stakeholders who failed to honour their invitation to appear unfailingly at the next hearing or be ready to face “unpalatable consequences”.
