The Nigerian Navy on Thursday disclosed that a total of 202.9 million metric tonnes of premium motor spirit (PMS) were imported into the country between January 2015 and July 2022.
The Representative of the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Oluwagbemi, made the disclosure while making a presentation before the House of Representatives Adhoc 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 have been imported into the country.
Oluwagbemi said the importations covered those 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 arrested 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 offences committed.
While responding to the presentation, the Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Rep Abdulkadir Sa’ad, commended the Nigerian Navy for availing the investigative panel of vital information which he said would help the panel greatly in the course of its investigations.
He expressed disappointment over 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 the committee to appear unfailingly at the next hearing or be ready to face “unpalatable consequences.”