Dangote Urge National Assembly to Test Refined Products, Challenges NMDPRA
Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, has asked the National Assembly to conduct a credibility test on refined products from the Standard laboratory, urging them to set up a committee to take samples from filling stations and produce their own samples, while challenging the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to demonstrate the quality of their refined products.
While speaking during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals and the Dangote Fertiliser Limited complex by members of the House of Representatives, Dangote questioned NMDPRA’s assertion that only imported refined products are of quality, saying all the test certificates provided by local refiners are fake.
According to him, all the available tests conducted on their products show sulphur content of 87.6 ppm, which is significantly lower than the international standards, while the products from imported sources have a sulphur content that exceeds 1,800 ppm.
Dangote urged NMDPRA to conduct open tests on their products anytime, while accusing the regulator of demarketing and undermining the local industries.
Vice President of Gas and Oil at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, supported Dangote’s assertion, stating that European countries have expressed concerns about the carcinogenic effects of high-sulphur diesel being dumped into the Nigerian market.
Reacting, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abass, stated that the chamber would establish a committee to investigate the quality of imported refined products and test all available products from the Standard laboratory.
The Speaker expressed admiration for the infrastructure at the Dangote Oil Refinery, describing it as a significant asset in Nigeria’s quest for self-sufficiency in petroleum products.
It would be beneficial for the regulator to showcase its laboratory to the world so Nigerians can compare.
