A group of companies accused by the NNPC of importing substandard fuel into the country has put the blame on a member of the consortium, saying the firm has long been operating independently and bears full responsibility for the purchase.
The government announced on Tuesday that it found excess methanol in stocks recently brought into the country, prompting shortage of petrol in major cities including Abuja and Lagos.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, which coordinates the government’s direct sale, direct purchase fuel policy, on Wednesday blamed three companies and a consortium for the importation.
It listed the vendors as MRS, Oando, Duke Oil and Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium. MRS said the fuel came from the Atnwerp, Belgium terminal of Litasco, a subsidiary of the Russian company, Lukoil, and denied any responsibility.
The Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium said in a statement on Thursday that the fuel was imported by Britannia-U, a member of the group it says had long refused to work together with other members of the consortium.
Brittania -U could not be immediately reached through its known phone contact.
Read the full statement released by Emadeb/Hyde/Maikifi below:
EMADEB/HYDE/AYMAIKIFI PROVIDE CLARIFICATIONS ON NNPC’s CLAIMS
We refer to the press release of February 9, 2022 by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited on the issue of contaminated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) with higher concentrates of methanol allegedly imported by Emadeb/Hyde/Ay Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium.
We hereby state that the said importation of the contaminated PMS was executed by a member of the consortium, to wit: Brittania-U.
Therefore, the blanket claims made against the consortium by the NNPC are misleading and contradict the actual events that happened; they do not fully reflect and/or represent what transpired. It is important to inform the public of these facts and provide clarifications relating to the delivery of the said contaminated PMS to the country. We also deem it necessary to protect our image as we have invested a lot in building our respective brands in the industry.
Facts and Findings
1. Brittania-U Nigeria Limited (Brittania-U) was the sole supplier of the 90,000MT of PMS delivered via MT Torm Hilde with laycan January 2 to 4, 2022.
2. At the formation of the Consortium in May 2021 by NNPC, Brittania-U refused to execute the Service and Consortium Agreement submitted to NNPC in fulfilment of the award of the DSDP Contract. Emadeb as the lead of the Consortium engaged Brittania-U severally and they insisted on dealing with NNPC independently. NNPC was expressly notified about this by the other Consortium members via a letter dated June 2, 2021.
3. Further, Brittania-U vehemently refusing to execute the Consortium Agreement with the other Consortium members – EMADEB/HYDE/AY MAIKIFI- was surprising and frustrating to everyone. Brittania-U communicated all her actions to the other Consortium members and NNPC harping on the following points:
a) Brittania-U’s preference to perform a sole contract for Crude lifting and PMS supply under the DSDP arrangement;
b) Brittania-U’s choice to be solely liable under her supplies to NNPC and in the light of which she indemnified the other Consortium members accordingly;
c) Non-acceptance of the nominated international partner agreed by other Consortium members – EMADEB/HYDE/AY MAIKIFI; and,
d) Brittania-U’s unwillingness to co-operate or share information and documents with the other Consortium members in respect of the December 2021 crude cargo allocated to her by NNPC.
4. Following the repeated refusal of Brittania-U to work with the Consortium, Brittania-U indemnified the other consortium members – ‘’Emadeb/Hyde/Ay Maikifi’’ and the resulting agreement was executed by their company on June 16, 2021. It reads in part: The Indemnity clause contained in the aforementioned agreement covers “Emadeb/Hyde/Ay Maikifi’’ against all damages, losses, costs, expenses (including reasonable legal costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees) and liabilities incident to claims, demands or causes of action brought by or on behalf of any person or entity, which claims, demands or causes of action arise out of, are incident to or result from the performance of or failure to perform the Project. The indemnity also covers Shortages in delivery of products, late deliveries, delivery of off-spec cargo or other wrongful performance of their obligations in the DSDP agreement.
EMADEB/HYDE/AY MAIKIFI via a letter dated December 10, 2021 informed NNPC of non-receipt of information from Brittania-U on all correspondence relating to the DSDP crude cargo allocated to them. We further stated that Brittania-U’s action contradicts all efforts to ensure performance on her allotted crude cargo.
In view of the notice of the contaminated product, EMADEB/HYDE/AY MAIKIFI immediately notified Brittania-U via a letter dated February 3, 2022 and also expressly informed NNPC of the sole liability of Brittania U.
Based on the substantial evidence provided to NNPC and several declarations by Brittania-U to NNPC, Brittania-U is therefore solely liable for the supply of the PMS via MT Torm Hilde. This is also demonstrated by their unwillingness to be part of the consortium; however, all the other parties were duly indemnified by Brittania-U.
