The federal government has set up a committee comprising of 89 persons to monitor the volume of petrol imported and consumed daily in Nigeria.
The team, according to a statement from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was drawn from five key agencies comprising the corporation itself, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), and Department of State Services (DSS).
Their job, the statement, which was signed by the Acting Group General Manager Public Affairs of the NNPC, Mr. Samson Makoji, explained, would be to ensure transparency and accountability in the distribution of petroleum products across the country.
It said the committee code-named ‘Operation White’, was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, who reportedly noted that they would help to authenticate the actual volume of products imported and consumed in the country and ensure that Nigeria attained energy security.
Sylva equally observed that the initiative was long overdue for the country and charged members of the team to carry out the assignment with commitment, zeal and patriotism.
He stated that he was optimistic that the operation would stem the smuggling of petroleum products by some unscrupulous operators, stressing that the savings from the exercise would support infrastructural development in the country.