Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group and Africa’s richest man, has accused officials from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and oil traders of operating blending plants in Malta, from which they import substandard fuel.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Speaking before the House of Representatives on Monday, Dangote claimed that the locations of these blending plants are well-known to stakeholders.
Dangote linked vehicle issues in Nigeria to poor-quality imported fuel, asserting that domestically produced diesel is superior. He urged the House to establish an independent committee to assess the quality of petrol sold at Nigerian filling stations, criticizing existing test certificates as potentially fraudulent.
“I urge you to set up a committee led by a chosen member to collect samples from filling stations. Many test certificates being circulated are not credible,” Dangote said.
The House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources has initiated an investigation into allegations that local refineries produce inferior products. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has stated that the Dangote Refinery is not yet licensed to operate and has questioned the quality of its products compared to imports.
NMDPRA CEO Farouk Ahmed noted that Dangote Refinery and other local refineries produce diesel with higher levels of sulfur compared to imported fuel. However, Dangote Group has refuted these claims, asserting that their products are of higher quality than the imports.
Anthony Chiejine, spokesperson for Dangote Industries Limited, countered that their diesel is produced with significantly lower sulfur levels than the imports previously used in Nigeria. He dismissed claims that medium-level sulfur diesel is intended only for off-road use as inaccurate and misleading.
