Amid Petrol Scarcity Customs Impounds 33,390 Litres Of PMS With DPV Of Over N8 Million

Amid petrol scarcity, the Nigeria Customs Service, Seme Area Command, has impounded 33,390 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of eight million, eight hundred and eight thousand, two hundred and eighty (N8,808,280.00), along the Badagry waterways.

While petrol sells at regulated price of N165/litre in Nigeria, it goes as high as N700/per litre in most African countries. This has resulted in some unscrupulous marketers smuggling the product out, at the expense of the country.

Recently, the country experienced scarcity, which led to long queues at filling stations and hike in pump price.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in September said that Nigeria consumes 66.8 million litres of petrol daily. The figure from the Authority is lesser than the 68 million litres of petrol daily consumption given by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited in the same month.

Some stakeholders have doubted figures being provided by government agencies, saying that the country consumes less than what is being given , adding that as long as the country continues to subsidize petrol, unscrupulous marketers would continue to smuggle the product out of the country to sell in neighbouring countries.

A statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Hussaini Abdullahi, said the interception was made in the late hours of December, 8, 2022.

The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has sustained surveillance and offensive patrol along the creeks and beaches within Badagry and its environs, which has been yielding results.

“With this latest seizure, the Command has so far intercepted a total of thirty-one thousand (31,000) jerry cans of PMS in 30 litres each, equivalent to nine hundred and thirty thousand, one hundred and forty (930, 140) litres, about twenty (28) tanker loads of thirty-three thousand (33,000) litres each from January to date,” the statement said.

The combined Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the aforementioned items, the statement added, stood at one hundred and sixty-seven million, seven hundred and twenty-two thousand, seven hundred and fifty-one Naira, and fifty-one kobo (N167,722,751.51) only.