Senate panel says the rich smuggle aviation fuel to neighbouring countries
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Senator Smart Adeyemi (APC, Kogi West) who chairs the Senate Aviation Committee says the rich are the ones stealing and smuggling out Jet A-1, also called aviation fuel, which scarcity has ground the operations of some local airlines.
He cited the four dormant national refineries as another contributor to aviation fuel crisis in Nigeria, the world’s sixth largest producer of crude oil, where insecurity makes it hard for citizens to travel by road.
The economy cannot thrive, he said, when some people keep on stealing from it – and doing so with little consequences of prosecution to deter them and others.
His words: “Before now, we used to procure our oil from Europe but they no longer have that capacity, especially because of the diplomatic issue between Europe and Russia.
“Europe is no longer buying fuel from Russia, so they have to do with what they have. As you can see, the pump price of PMS [petrol] has gone up in Europe itself.
“The consequence for us is that what we would have used as proceeds is what we are using to import back PMS to the country for local consumption.
“The same thing goes for aviation; the Jet A-1 that is being imported is beyond what our country is consuming. Nigerians are smuggling Jet A-1 to other West African countries.
“So, it means neighbouring countries live on what Nigeria is bringing in and that accounts for why the subsidy keeps increasing.
“The people doing this bunker and stealing of our resources aren’t ordinary Nigerians. They are rich and powerful people who have become cabals; they do this stealing in very large quantities. How can anybody justify that 80 per cent of what we produce is stolen?
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Consequences of dormant refineries
“But what can we do when the refineries are not working. The concern of everyone is to make the refineries work and build one or two more refineries,” Adeyemi added, per The PUNCH.
“When the refineries are not working, these are the consequences and more so with the global economic recession, the recession will first manifest in the aviation industry and that is because people are now traveling more by air than before.
“Also, our own inability to make refineries work and the devaluation of the naira are making it difficult for airlines to get Jet A-1 and once it’s not available, then there is no way people can move.
“And it may continue for a while. And apart from the importation business, aviation is a major driver of the economy.
“Many people cannot go by road because of the security state of the nation. And as it is today, the airlines are finding it hard to procure servicing parts because of the cost.
“I think again, like I said, aviation is very important to the socio-economic development of any nation. Ours is more serious because it is crude, so until we get the refineries working, we cannot think of the other solutions to the aviation industry.”
Adeyemi said the good news is the rehabilitation work going on at the Port Harcourt Refinery and the Senate Petroleum Downstream Committee members will visit the place soon to see things for themselves.