By: Felix Ikpotor
As part of efforts aimed at supporting the Federal Government’s desired increase in oil production, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has inaugurated its anti-bunkering and other corrupt practices taskforce in the Eastern and Midwestern Zones.
The taskforce is also expected to check other corrupt practices in the downstream oil sector like adulteration of products, pipeline vandalism amongst others.
Inaugurating the taskforce on Monitoring and Surveillance on Illegal Oil Bunkering, Pipeline Vandalism, Petroleum Products Adulteration and Other Sharp Practices in Port Harcourt during a retreat, the National Security Adviser, Alhaji Issa Abdullahi Gusau, stated that the inauguration is a follow up to what has been done at the national level.
He said the retreat will afford principal officers and from each states of the Eastern and Midwestern Zones the opportunity to strategise and come out with a blueprint to go about their task.
Gusua, while acknowledging that the task before them was enormous, expressed the hope that they can curb the menace through effective strategy and collaboration.
“The aim of the retreat is to orient and strategise members of the committee for effective elimination of sharp practices in the oil and gas downstream sector. This would enable principal officers and participants progress to the foundation for which the committee is set up, so as to design strategies and programmes and to get clear on how to achieve their objectives as well as providing a documentable platform for the process of achieving this objective,”. he stated.
Gusau, who is also the National Taskforce Chairman of IPMAN, said the retreat would also afford the officers to identify and harness areas of synergy, saying “The objective therefore is for all of us to brainstorm, strategise and come up with a blueprint that would guide us in discharging our duties of eliminating sharp practices in the oil and gas downstream sector”.
Also speaking, Chairman of IPMAN, Port Harcourt Unit, Tekena Ikpaki, advised the taskforce to act within the armbits of the law and be fair to every person they come in contact with in course of their operations.
“My advice to the taskforce is that they should stay within the extant laws of the land, their operations should not go outside what is required of them. None of them should take anything personally. They should work to ensure the realization of the Federal Government’s desired increase in petroleum output,” he said.
He assured that any member of the taskforce that goes contrary to the goss contrary to the guidelines would be disciplined accordingly.
On his part, Head of Operations of the Taskforce, Nwanne Tochukwu Dominic, assured that there would be a paradigm shift from the old order, adding that Nigeria will witnessed an improved oil flow as his committee won’t leave any stone unturned in making sure that the menace of illegal bunkering is curbed.
