Refinery Comments: Reps Probe Call For NMDPRA’s Boss Sack

House of Representatives has mandated its Committees in Petroleum (Midstream and Downstream) to investigate the call for the sack of the chief executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, over what it called unguarded comments on local refineries.

This was a sequel to the adoption of an amendment to a motion on: “Urgent Need to Address the Outrage Resulting from Unguarded Comments by the NMDPRA Chief Executive”, sponsored by the member representing Oredo Federal Constituency of Edo State, Hon. Esosa Iyawe, at plenary yesterday.

Iyawe said fuel quality could impact engine hardware. Thus, ultra-low sulfur diesel is recommended for all types of companies, power plants, storage tanks, industrial facilities, fleets and heavy equipment, and even ships, as high sulphur content in fuels causes damage to engines and contributes to air pollution.

He said that considering the various risks associated with sulfur, governments around the world have taken steps to regulate it by setting standards that require maximum reduction of emissions of this chemical compound, which diesel producers are expected to adhere to.

The lawmaker noted that NMDPRA permits local refiners to produce diesel with Sulphur content of up to 650 parts per million (ppm) until January 2025, as approved by the ECOWAS.

He informed that recently, the chief executive of the NMDPRA stated that the diesel produced by the Dangote refinery is inferior to the ones imported into the country and that their fuel had a large content of Sulphur, which he put at between 650 to 1,200ppm ppm.

Iyawe said in their defence, Dangote called for a test of their products, which was supervised by members of the House, wherein it was revealed that Dangote’s diesel had a Sulphur content of 87.6 ppm (parts per million); however, the other two samples diesel imported showed Sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2000 ppm respectively, hence disproving the allegations made by the NMDPRA boss.

He expressed concerns that allegations have been made that the NMDPRA was giving licences to some traders who regularly import high-sulphur content diesel into Nigeria. Such products pose grave health risks and huge financial losses for Nigerians.

According to the lawmaker, the unguarded statements by the chief executive of NMDPRA, which have since been disproved, sparked outrage from Nigerians over his undermining of local refineries and insistence on the continued importation of fuel, which is an act of economic sabotage as the imported products have been shown to contain high levels of dangerous compounds.

He expressed worry that the careless statement by the chief executive of NMDPRA without conducting any prior investigation is unprofessional and unpatriotic, especially in the face of the recent calls for protest against the federal government.