The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has vowed to deploy its full powers under Act No. 14 of 2015 to fight purveyors of substandard, fake and adulterated lubricants in Nigeria, to protect the people, the environment and the nation’s economy
The Director General, OsitaAboloma Esq. who made the vow in Lagos during a meeting with Stakeholders in the Lubricant subsector, stated that no business interest is worth the life of one Nigerian. “Keeping quiet in the face of injustice is as bad as taking part” he said.
According to him, the meeting was called as follow-up to the nationwide clampdown on suspected, substandard, fake and adulterated lubricants by SON, following intelligence reports on the massive influx of the life threatening products into the country.
Aboloma stated that his agency has also received series of complaints from Consumers about failure of machinery occasioned by substandard, fake and adulterated lubricants, lack of value for money, as well as unwholesome practices by some licenced blenders in Nigeria.
Other areas of concern according to him include abuse and faking of the quality marks, cloning of popular brands and misleading labelling to confuse consumers of lubricant products particularly as the yuletide approaches.
He reiterated his agency’s determination to remain fair and firm in dealing with stakeholders whose facilities were shut down for suspected substandard lubricants, insisting that all lubricants in circulation must meet requirements of the relevant Nigeria Industrial Standards, including for traceability, performance and guarantee of value for money.
The SON Chief Executive invited the stakeholders to join in the crusade to confront the menace of life-endangering lubricants frontally, promising to deploy the full powers of the agency to protect compliant businesses and prosecute non-compliance.
Aboloma disclosed that registration of lubricants with SON has increased by about 28% following the nationwide raid, confirming the suspicion that many unregistered products were in circulation.
Responding, the Stakeholders commended the SON initiative and courage in embarking on the nationwide enforcement exercise and pledged their cooperation to tackle the menace decisively.
They enumerated necessary steps towards sanitizing the lubricant subsector to include;
- Quality checks at all seaports and land borders by relevant regulatory agencies
- Mandatory spot checks on all licenced blending plants in Nigeria by SON under the Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP)
- A crack down on all unlicensed lubricant blending plants in the country including prosecution and
- Improved synergy between SON, the Department of Petroleum Resources and Nigeria Customs Service in plant licencing and import regulation of lubricants.
Represented at the stakeholders’ forum were executives and members of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria (LUPAN) and major importers of base oil and lubricants in Nigeria, including Chief Executives of Dozzy Group, Lubcon Oil, Seahorse, Double One Plc (Formerly Mobil Oil), A-Z Petroleum, OVH EM (formerly Oando Plc).
Others were AMMASCO International, Obitech Oil, Lawmaco Group Royal Merenge, Necit Nigeria Ltd. and Petrozy among others.
Fashina R. Bola
SA (DG)/Head, Public Relations
