Insisting that the hierarchy of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has lost the ethical and neutral authority to exercise her mandate in the face of the clear manifestation of preference for importation of petroleum products, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been asked to sack the chief executive and to reorganise the hierarchy of NMDPRA to infuse patriotism, independence and neutrality.

HURIWA stated that the widely publicised position by the chief executive officer of the NMDPRA Mr Faruk Ahmed that Aliko Dangote’s diesel has more sulphur than imported products and then the agency to turn around to state on Sunday that the regulator was expecting fresh report on Monday to confirm the real sulphur content of the diesel produced by the Dangote refinery, has in our assessment rendered the head of that government agency as incapable of exercising his authority in such a competent manner that such a high office requires given that such a hierarchical position in a regulatory organisation of government demands the highest ethical and neutral standpoint from the regulator.

HURIWA recalled that days after its chief executive accused Dangote refinery of producing poor quality diesel than the imported products, the same NMDPRA on Sunday stated that about 15 engineers and scientists embedded in the Dangote refinery will publish a fresh report about the refinery’s sulphur content and that tje fresh report will be out on Monday.

HURIWA recalled that reacting to the Dangote’s allegations that NMDPRA was giving licenses to some traders to import dirty fuel into Nigeria last week, Ahmed argued that it was Dangote fuel that had a larger content of sulphur.

He also said the refinery which has been selling diesel and aviation fuel in Nigeria for months, had yet to be licensed, stating that it was still at the pre-commissioning stage.

The claim by some media houses that there were steps to scuttle Dangote refinery is not so. The Dangote refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licensed yet; we haven’t licensed them yet. They are still in the pre- commissioning. I think they have about 45 per cent completion,” Ahmed declared.

According to him the refinery had requested the regulator to stop giving import licences to other marketers so as to be the only fuel supplier in Nigeria.

“We cannot rely on one refinery to feed the nation, Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop importation of all petroleum products, especially AGO and direct all marketers to the refinery that is not good for the nation in terms of energy security. And that is not good for the market, because of monopoly,” he stressed.

Speaking about quality, he said, “so, in terms of quality the AGO quality in terms of sulphur is the lowest as far as the West African requirement of 50 ppm is concerned.

"Dangote refinery and some modular refineries, like the Walter Smith refinery and Aradel refinery, they are producing between 650 to 1200ppm. So, in terms of quality their product is much more inferior to the imported quality,” he alleged.

The rights group also recalled that reacting during a tour by members of the House of Representatives led by the speaker, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, over the weekend, Dangote asserted that products refined at the world’s largest single train refinery are of superior quality compared to the imported fuel.

HURIWA quoted media report as indicating that the speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and other members have observed the testing of Automotive Gas oil from two petrol stations alongside the same taken from the Dangote refinery.

The diesel sample was reportedly procured from two well-known filling stations near Eleko junction along Lekki – Epe Expressway, Lagos, said the lawmakers.

HURIWA said the antagonistic attitudes of the chief Downstream and Midstream petroleum regulator in the Country towards the Dangote refinery has rendered his continuous stay in office ethically disturbing going by the public display of his preferences for the continuous importation of fuel products so the Nigerian population will continue to suffer adversely due to the unrelenting hike in the pump price of petrol and other crude oil products such as diesel and aviation fuel which has aggravated the costs of living crisis affecting millions of Nigerian households.

The rights group stated that the only way the President would demonstrate that he is not in support of the deep rooted corruption that has prevented the publicly owned refineries from coming back on stream is to immediately relieve the chief executive officer of the NMDPRA, Mr Faruk Ahmed, of his duty because his ongoing action of publicly running down the activities of the first ever privately built crude oil refinery in Nigeria is the most unpatriotic act that any public office holder shouldn't be seen exhibiting.

"We are therefore urging the Nigerian president to do the needful by dismissing the chief executive officer of the NMDPRA now and by appointing someone who is a patriot, a professional and someone who is totally neutral and wouldn't be seen taking sides with the International Oil Companies based in Nigeria as against the indigenous crude oil companies owned privately such as the Dangote refinery amongst others whose products were generally demarketed by the head of the NMDPRA in preference for continuous importation of petroleum products into the Nigeria and to perpetuate the agonising and pathetic suffering of Nigerians.”

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