Reps ask Tinubu to suspend NMDPRA Boss
The House of Representatives on Tuesday petitioned President Bola Tinubu to suspend Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), for making “unguarded comments” on the quality of products produced at the Dangote Refinery.
The members of parliament demanded Ahmed’s suspension pending the completion of investigations into the claims against the Authority.
This came after a motion calling for a swift response to the uproar caused by the NMDPRA boss’s “unguarded comments.”
Esosa Lyawe, who moved the motion, stated that Ahmed alleged that the diesel generated by the Dangote refinery had a high sulfur level and was inferior to those imported into the nation.
The House, whose leadership was at the Dangote Refinery in Lagos on Saturday, noticed that the billionaire business magnate requested a test of products manufactured at his $20 billion plant.
Members of the House of Representatives witnessed the test, which revealed that Dangote’s diesel had a Sulphur content of 87.6 ppm (parts per million), whereas two samples of imported diesel had Sulphur levels exceeding 1,800 ppm and 2,000 ppm, thus disproving the allegations made by the NMDPRA boss.
Lawmakers were worried that the NMDPRA had allegedly awarded licenses to some traders who habitually imported high-sulphur diesel into Nigeria, despite the fact that using such goods presented serious health hazards and massive financial losses to Nigerians.
The House mandated their Petroleum Downstream Committee to investigate the matter.
Ahmed’s comment has provoked indignation among Nigerians, who have labeled his undercutting of local refineries and insistence on ongoing petroleum importation as an act of economic sabotage.
Farouk Ahmed claimed that Dangote’s refinery and several modular refineries, such as the Waltersmith and Aradel refineries, produce between 650 and 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their product is significantly inferior than foreign goods,” he added.
Farouk Ahmed, also claimed that the Dangote refinery had demanded that the regulator stopped issuing import permits to other marketers in order to become Nigeria’s exclusive fuel supplier.
and several modular refineries, such as the Waltersmith and Aradel refineries, produce diesel with sulphur content between 650 and 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their product is significantly inferior than AGO’s whose sulphur content is now the lowest in West Africa with a requirement of 50 ppm.
