Dangote
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The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has alleged that some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and oil traders own blending plants in Malta, an island in Southern Europe.
Speaking at the House of Representatives on Monday, Dangote noted that all the stakeholders are aware of the existence of the blending plants.
“Some of the terminals, some of the NNPC people and some traders have opened blending plants somewhere off Malta. We all know these areas. We know what they are doing,” he said.
The industrialist blamed the problems of vehicles in Nigeria on substandard imported fuel, and insisted that the locally produced diesel produced has better quality than imported fuel.
Dangote urged the leadership of the House of Representatives to set up an independent committee to verify the quality of petrol available in Nigeria.
He said: “I want you to set up a committee that will come with every representative headed by your chosen honourable member to come and lead in taking samples from filling stations because I must tell you today that all the test certificates that people are busy floating around, where are the labs? Even if they have the labs, I can tell you they are fake certificates.”
Recall that the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (downstream and midstream), on Monday, began a probe to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the claims that local refineries produce inferior products.
According to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian government was yet to license the Dangote Refinery to begin operations in the country.
According to Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, Dangote Refinery’s products are inferior to imported products.
“Dangote Refinery, as well as some major refineries, like Walter Smith’s refinery, and other refineries, produce 650 to 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their quality is much, much inferior to the imported commodities,” he added.
However, Dangote Group dismissed the claim, insisting that their products are far better than imported ones.
The group noted that some entities are out to frustrate Dangote because they are unhappy that he is in the oil business.
Anthony Chiejine, the company’s spokesperson at Dangote Industries Limited, said: “Until late last year, diesel imports into Nigeria were up to 7,000 parts per million (ppm) of Sulphur, which has been going on for many years. Our diesel is produced currently at significantly lower levels of Sulphur; as such, we find baseless the allegation that the reason for the reduction is linked to quality. What we are producing is 80 percent of what is being imported into the country.
“Another inaccurate assertion is that Medium Level Sulphur diesel is meant for off-road use. This is a completely false statement, as this would have invariably meant that all the imports for the last 20 years have been damaging equipment.”
The revelation from Dangote has raised concerns about the integrity of Nigeria’s fuel supply chain and the role NNPC officials and traders are playing in the continued importation of substandard fuel into the country.
