Lagos begins mass audit of petroleum operators

RISING from the need to create conducive environment and guarantee safety of Lagosians from the activities of petroleum dealers, the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola has approved the auditing exercise on the petroleum products operators in the state.The exercise would affect businesses dealing with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automated Gas Oil (AGO), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Household Kerosene (HHK), among others, including the depots and filling station operators in the state.The Commissioner for Energy, Taofiq Ajibade, who confirmed this to The Guardian at the weekend, said the essence of the exercise was to create a data base of the industry, to enable government check the numerous illegalities, going on within the petroleum products operations in Lagos State.The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is a new ministry in Lagos State created by the present governor to take charge of all petroleum resources and mineral resources abound in the its territory.Ajibade, the pioneer commissioner, who paid a visit the facilities of the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) in Apapa Lagos, said the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola has approved the programme on collection of data from all the petroleum products operators in Lagos State, while plans are also at advance stage to initiate new regulations for operators in the state.He said: 'As we all know, here in Apapa, there are so many storage firms, scattered all over the place, we are not sure their efficiency in terms of environmental and safety standards, all these information is very important to us so that we can take necessary action to checkmate some of these illegalities.Besides, he said the exercise would enable them to identify depots that are needed to be relocated to curtail an imminent danger from the petroleum marketing zone.'It will ensure that we don't have a danger at our doorstep, because the way they are arranged here, if we are not careful, it is like playing with imminent danger, so this exercise is very important to the governor,' he said.He however commended NIPCO for what he called 'strict compliance with safety and environmental standards' and applauded the firm for its unwavering commitment to the economy of the state.
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