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A delegation of the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, paid a visit to the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum refinery in the Lekki area of Lagos State on Saturday.
The lawmakers arrived at the facility, situated in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, at approximately 11 a.m. and were warmly received by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President of the Dangote Group, alongside other high-ranking officials of the company.
The lawmakers are expected to undertake a tour of the 650,000 barrels per day refinery during the visit and have a conversation with Dangote about the plan to start the supply of petrol next month.
As previously reported by Persecondnews, this visit by the House of Representatives leadership marks the second time federal lawmakers have inspected the refinery this year, with the first being by the Senate leadership, led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, in June.
The lawmaker’s visit comes days after the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, claimed that the diesel produced by Dangote refinery contains a high sulphur content of about 1,000 parts per million.
According to Ahmed, the Federal Government will continue to import petroleum products, as reliance on a single refinery is insufficient to meet the country’s needs.
He also disclosed that the refinery, despite having supplied diesel and aviation fuel to the Nigerian market for several months, is still in the pre-commissioning phase and has not yet received its operating licence.
He declared: “The claim by some media houses that there were steps to scuttle the 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 percent completion.”
The NMDPRA boss warned that Nigeria cannot rely heavily on the Dangote refinery for its fuel supply.
Ahmed disclosed that the refinery had requested the regulatory body for a monopoly on fuel supply in Nigeria, requesting the withholding of import licenses from other marketers, thereby establishing the refinery as the exclusive fuel supplier in the country.
He stressed: “We cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation, because Dangote is requesting that we 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.
“So, in terms of quality, currently, 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 Waltersmith refinery and Aradel refinery, are producing between 650 to 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their product is much more inferior to the imported quality.”
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