By Abiola Olawale
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has alleged that some top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have opened a blending plant in Malta.
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. The New Diplomat reports that a joint petroleum committee on the Midstream and Downstream sectors had its inaugural meeting on Monday following the face-off between Dangote and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The Joint Investigative Committee is chaired by Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere (Downstream) with support from Hon. Henry Okojie (Midstream). 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.
He said: “Some of the terminals, some of the NNPC people and some traders have opened a blending plant somewhere off Malta.
“We all know these areas. We know what they are doing.”
Speaking further, Dangote reiterated that the diesel produced by his refinery at 650 parts per million (ppm) and 700 ppm is of better quality than imported fuel. Dangote said many vehicle issues can be traced back to the “substandard” imported fuel.
He urged the leadership of the House of Representatives to set up an independent committee to verify the quality of petrol available 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.
“The real one that you now know that they are right is to take from the filling station and also come and take from our production line. Now, you will be able to tell Nigerians that this is it,” he added.
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.
