By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The President of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, has revealed that his Lagos-based refinery, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, has continued to receive repeated orders for its products from all those who have purchased the same since the commencement of production.
Speaking during a tour of the facility and the Dangote Fertilizer Limited complex over the weekend with members of the House of Representatives, the businessman further disclosed that the refinery has so far exported its products to some European countries, Singapore and offshore Lome.
He expressed shock why a regulatory authority like the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) would demarket a local company trying to stop the importation of petroleum products into the country and force the nation to pay subsidies.
Mr Dangote challenged the regulator (NMDPRA) to compare the quality of refined products from his petroleum refinery with those imported while advocating for an impartial assessment to determine what best serves the interests of Nigerians.
“We produce the best diesel in Nigeria. It is disheartening that instead of safeguarding the market, the regulator is undermining it. Our doors are open for the regulator to conduct tests on our products anytime; transparency is paramount to us.
“It would be beneficial for the regulator to showcase its laboratory to the world so Nigerians can compare. Our interest is Nigeria first because if Nigeria doesn’t grow, we have limited capacity for growth,” he said.
The business mogul urged the parliament to “set up a committee that will take samples at filling stations and take our sample because I must tell you that all the test certificates people are flaunting around are fake certificates.”
“Where are the laboratories where those tests were conducted? By doing this, you will be able to tell Nigerians the very truth that they deserve to know. Demarketing of a company by a regulator that it is supposed to protect it is very unfortunate,” he stated.
The chief executive of NMDPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed, had claimed that diesel from the Dangote Refinery contained high levels of sulphur, which Africa’s richest man debunked.
During the visit to the facility, the visiting lawmakers collected samples from two other petrol stations for testing and it turned out that diesel from Dangote Refinery had very low sulphur compared with the imported diesel samples from local petrol stations.
“We didn’t know that you were going to ask us to stop by the road and take samples from other filling stations. I didn’t know what you wanted to do until we got here and you requested a test. It is even good that it is your members that went directly to get our samples and I am sure you were shocked by the result. With the result, you can see that we produce the best diesel in Nigeria.”
“Ours shows a sulphur content of 87.6 ppm, approximately 88, whereas the others exceeded 1,800 ppm. Although the NMDPRA permits local refiners to produce diesel with sulphur content up to 650 ppm until January 2025, as approved by ECOWAS, ours is significantly lower.
“Next week, we aim to achieve 10 ppm, aligning with the Euro V standard. Imported diesel is capped at 50 ppm, but as you have seen, those from the stations, imported by major marketers, fall well outside this standard,” Mr Dangote observed.
He pointed out that high-sulphur content diesel regularly imported into the country often comes with dubious certifications. He emphasised that the most effective method to verify the quality is to purchase the product directly from filling stations and conduct credibility tests. According to him, this issue has resulted in both health risks and financial losses for Nigerians.
“Dubious certifications often accompany the importation of high-sulphur diesel into Nigeria, causing both health risks and financial losses for Nigerians,” noted Mr Dangote.
“The best method to verify this is to purchase the product directly from filling stations where end-users obtain it.
“I believe Farouk Ahmed (chief executive of NMDPRA) speaks without sufficient knowledge of our refinery. We have successfully exported diesel and jet fuel to Europe and Asia without any complaints; in fact, we have received repeated orders, indicating satisfaction with our products,” he added.