Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, has said that some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and oil traders have blending plants in Malta, an island country in Southern Europe.
The billionaire businessman revealed this at the House of Representatives on Monday, noting that the areas of the blending plants are well-known by all the stakeholders.
He said: “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.”
Dangote attributed vehicle problems in Nigeria to substandard imported fuel, noting that the diesel produced locally has better quality than imported fuel.
He appealed to the leadership of the House of Representatives to set up an independent committee to verify the quality of petrol available in Nigeria, particularly the one being sold at filling stations.
“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,” he said.
The House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (downstream and midstream), on Monday, began a probe into claims that local refineries produce inferior products.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had said last Thursday that the Nigerian government was yet to license the Dangote Refinery to begin operations in the country.
Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, noted that Dangote Refinery’s products are inferior to imported products.
“Dangote Refinery, as well as some major refineries, like Walter Smith’s refinery, other refineries, they 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, saying that their products are far better than imported ones. The group noted that some entities are not happy that its chairman, Aliko Dangote, is in the oil business and wants to frustrate him.
“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,” Anthony Chiejine, the company’s spokesperson at Dangote Industries Limited, said.
“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.”
Dangote’s revelation has sparked concerns about the integrity of Nigeria’s fuel supply chain and the role of NNPC officials and traders in perpetuating the importation of substandard fuel.