Six companies have gotten approval from the Federal Government to import petroleum products into the country.
The Managing Director of Nigeria Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDRA), Farouk Ahmed, made this known to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Ahmed stated that apart from the newly-approved six firms, several companies applied for permit to import petroleum into Nigeria in due course.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had earlier said three oil marketers will start importing petroleum products in July.
But Ahmed said the number has increased to six. He said apart from the six firms, a number of companies have applied for permits.
According to him, anyone can apply for importation to get access to the port as the authority is open to all those interested in importing.
“There are six companies who said they want to import fuel in July. Of course, all the others may import in December in November or anytime,” Ahmed stated.
“However, those who expressed interest to bring in fuel in July there were six of them as of this morning.
“The beauty of it is that there are interests which means that they have been able to have access to foreign exchange in order to import.
“Now, as we go along, of course, we will be briefing you on the progress or the achievements so far.
“The important thing is that the NNPC has 30 days fuel sufficiency, so we do not anticipate any gap in supply or in distribution,” he said.
Recall that the House of Representatives last week rejected the motion to suspend the license allegedly granted to Dangote Refinery as the sole importer of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.
A federal lawmaker (Gali Tijjani) had called for the suspension of the license for a review to accommodate all the petroleum marketers.
The House of Reps, however, moved against the motion as shown in a video posted on Channels Television Twitter handle.
