The Deputy Spokesman of the Home of Representatives, Hon. (Dr) Philip Agese, has defended the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Firm towards what he referred to as false allegations to demarket the indigenous firm for the egocentric curiosity of saboteurs who’re bent on holding Nigeria within the vitality disaster quagmire.
Hon. Agbese, who’s the member representing Ado/Ogbadibo/Okpokwu Federal Constituency of Benue state within the Home of Representatives, due to this fact, accused the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted (NNPCL) and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) of being behind the makes an attempt to discredit the personal Refinery to benefit of Worldwide Oil Corporations (IOCs).
The lawmaker, in an announcement issued in Abuja, puzzled why a regulatory company would go all out to frustrate the efforts of his nation’s entrepreneur to offer foreigners the oxygen to proceed to run their imperialistic companies within the nation to retard Nigeria’s indigenisation drive within the oil and fuel in addition to different sectors.
He stated preliminary investigations by the parliament has proved, particularly the Chief Government Officer of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, mistaken of his concotted allegations that Dangote Refinery merchandise have been inferior to the imported high quality.
“It’s fairly unbelievable that the Dangote Refinery, with a capability of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd), believed to be Africa’s largest refinery, and the World’s seventh largest by capability and constructed with the intention to alleviate the petroleum merchandise wants and accompanying pains confronted by Nigerians will likely be introduced into public opprobrium by nobody else than NMDPRA boss Farouk Ahmed.
“By the spirit of the Petroleum Business Act which created the company which he superintend over at present, he ought to be the one encouraging native refineries to develop by offering a stage enjoying subject them to function however sadly, he’s the one stifling indigenisation of the sector and watering floor for financial neocolonialism.
“Nigerians, together with important stakeholders, such because the parliament woke as much as gibberish spunned by Ahmed when he declared that: ‘The Dangote refinery continues to be within the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licenced but. We haven’t licenced them but. They’re nonetheless in pre-commissioning stage. I feel they’re about 45 per cent accomplished, in completion somewhat.
“So we can’t rely closely on one refinery to feed the nation, as a result of Dangote is requesting that we must always droop or cease all importation of petroleum merchandise, particularly AGO (diesel) and jet gas, and direct all entrepreneurs to the refinery.
“So, when it comes to high quality, at present…Dangote refinery in addition to some main refineries like Waltersmith refinery, produce between 650ppm to 1,200 ppm. So, when it comes to high quality, their high quality is way inferior to the imported high quality.”
“That was least anticipated of him moreso that, the Chairman of the Home Committee on Downstream, Ikenga Ugochinyere, and Chairman of the Home Committee on Midstream, Okojie Odianosen, oversaw the gathering of samples from the Delicate Hydro Cracking (MHC) unit of Dangote refinery for testing of all of the samples.
“Lab exams revealed that Dangote’s diesel had a sulphur content material of 87.6 ppm (elements per million), whereas the opposite two samples confirmed sulphur ranges exceeding 1800 ppm and 2000 ppm respectively, disproving his malicious claims.
“It’s also surprisingly that NNPCL too is on this vicious cycle because it has been been revealed that the Federal authorities of Nigeria subscribed 20% shares in Dangote Refinery has didn’t redeem its obligation and now owns 7.2% by way of NNPCL. Because it that isn’t sufficient, the NNPCL is cohorting with cantankerous components to disclaim Dangote crude however promoting them IOCs,” Hon. Agbese acknowledged.