CPC alerts on existence of bad fuel

Gbola Subair, Abuja - 04.03.2008

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC ) has alerted Nigerians on the existence of bad premium motor spirit (petrol) which has allegedly wrecked many vehicles in some parts of the country.

The council, in a press statement signed by its spokesman, Mr. Abiodun Obamuyiwa, said preliminary investigations confirmed that one of the major oil marketers had been identified to have the bad fuel in some of its stations.

The CPC said some managers of the stations of the alleged major marketer confirmed the existence of the bad fuel in Lagos, claiming, however, that it was yet to get to Abuja .

The stations’ managers told the CPC that they had been put on alert to properly scrutinise new consignments before offloading for sale.

As part of its investigation, the council said it had taken samples of PMS in circulation for further laboratory analysis. Because of damage this bad fuel is capable of causing, the council advised consumers, particularly motorists, to be more cautious in their purchase of PMS because of the inherent danger of bad fuel on their automobiles.

The council said it had written a letter to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) intimating it of the development. CPC, in its letter, advised DPR “to take urgent steps in investigating the source of any bad PMS, with a view to arresting the situation as well as curtailing its spread to other parts of the country.”