By Abiola Olawale
Reports emerging on Friday revealed that Nigeria purportedly imported petroleum products worth $2.25 billion from Malta in 2023.
This information was contained on the official website of Trade Map.
According to the statistics published on the website, Nigeria purportedly imported petroleum oils obtained from bituminous minerals worth $2.8bn in 2023.
This figure represents a 342 per cent increase from $47.5m in 2013.
A breakdown of the report suggests that Nigeria is said to have imported fuel worth $59.98m in 2014; $117.01m in 2015 and $13.32m in 2016, respectively.
It was observed that from 2017 to 2022, there was no fuel importation into Nigeria from Malta.
This report comes a few days after the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, alleged that some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have blending plants in Malta.
Dangote had 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.”
However, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, in his submission denied owning a blending plant outside Nigeria.
Kyari said he does not own or operate any business directly or by proxy anywhere in the world, except for a local mini-agric venture.
He also said he is not aware of any employee of the NNPC that owns or operates a blending plant in Malta or anywhere else in the world.
He said: “I am inundated by enquiries from family members, friends, and associates on the public declaration by the President of Dangote Group that some NNPC workers have established a blending plant in Malta, thereby impeding procurements from local production of petroleum products.
“To clarify the allegations regarding the blending plant, I do not own or operate any business directly or by proxy anywhere in the world except for a local mini-agric venture, neither am I aware of any employee of the NNPC that owns or operates a blending plant in Malta or anywhere else in the world.”
