By Abiola Olawale
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO)of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPLC), Mele Kyari has stated that he doesn’t own or operate any petroleum blending plant in Malta.
Kyari also debunked allegations made by the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote that some top officials in the NNPCL own a blending plant in Malta.
Kyari who took to his official X handle on Tuesday clarified that any blending plant in Malta or any part of the world does not influence NNPC’s business operations and strategic actions.
He tweeted: “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 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.
“A blending plant in Malta or any part of the world does not influence NNPC’s business operations and strategic actions.
For further assurance, our compliance sanction grid shall apply to any NNPC employee who is established to be involved in doing so if availed and I strongly recommend that such individuals be declared public and be made known to relevant government security agencies for necessary actions given the grave implications for national energy security.”
Dangote, Africa’s richest man, accused the top officials of the NNPCL of masterminding means of importing substandard petroleum products into Nigeria.
Dangote made this known while addressing a joint committee of the House of Representatives.
Addressing the committee, Dangote explained that an oil blending plant has no refining capability but can be used to blend re-refined oil (a used motor oil that has been treated to remove dirt, fuel, and water) with additives to create finished lubricant products.
The billionaire said some top NNPCL officials including big traders in the country have allegedly opened the blending plant in Malta and imported low-quality petroleum products into the country through fake certificates.
Dangote’s comments came amid a battle of words with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Dangote refinery.
It would be recalled that the Chief executive of the NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed had claimed that the diesel from Dangote’s plant contained high levels of sulphur, harmful to engines and the environment.
Ahmed also said that Nigeria cannot depend on products from the Dangote refinery, revealing that products from the 650,000 barrels refinery are inferior and substandard in quality.
In response, Dangote invited members of the House of Representatives on a tour of the refinery to witness lab tests and make a comparison between the sulphur content of its diesel with imported samples.
According to Dangote, the tests revealed that Dangote’s diesel had a sulphur content of 87.6 ppm, significantly lower than the imported samples, which had levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2000 ppm.
Dangote explained that the result does not only show the reality of products from his refinery, but it also shows that substandard petroleum products are being imported into the country and sold to unsuspecting Nigerians.
