By Erasmus Ikhide
“ENERGY TIMES reliably gathered from top Presidency sources that the imported fuel would be discharged at Dangote barge and pumped into tanks and would sell at market dictated price to marketers while work progresses at the refinery,” according to part of the story. Though the NNPCL spokesperson said it was not the regulatory agency in charge of issuing licenses for fuel importation, he did not deny the fact that Dangote has been granted the sole license. Onyi Sunday’s words: “The report is misleading. We don’t grant licenses or permits because we are not a regulatory organization. The responsibility lies with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), not NNPCL. You should check with them. NNPCL has just a small stake of 20 per cent in the refinery.” Surely, the revelations above contradicted Aliko Dangote’s boisterous grandstanding at the commissioning, when he said that the first refined petroleum products from the refinery would hit the market before the end of July or August 2023. The African economic pillager thought that the deal on sole importer of petroleum products would be concealed in the next few months, so that the asphyxiating economic slavery would continue, unnoticed. As I wrote earlier, further checks revealed that the $19b dollars refinery is currently at 88% completion stage, while some equipment are still being expected to be delivered by their manufacturers, while those that have been fitted were yet to pass integrity test at the point of commissioning.
ENERGY TIMES recently reported under the headline: “NNPC grants fuel import permit to Dangote.”
This crying headline clearly exposed the deceptive appropriation of our commonwealth to Alhaji Aliko Dangote, wholesale.
The purpose of the commissioned Dangote Refinery by Ex-President Muhammandu Buhari simply ran riot at best – at worst – a continuation of the inherent blighted falsehood; institutional collapse and the manipulation of his perfidious businesses by his strangulating monopolistic fiat, as we know it.
The first questions agitating Nigerians and the global community observers’ minds are: how come imported petroleum products are now to be sold from Dangote Refinery? So, no more refining of crude oil at the ‘uncompleted commissioned refinery’ anymore?
Apart from Aliko Dangote, how many more Nigerian businessmen and women with existing Tank Farmers all over the country have been granted similar latitude to import fuel into their depots?
Here are some more questions begging for urgent answers: is this not a deceptive agenda for Aliko Dangote and Nigerian Government to deceive the people that the refinery is refining petroleum products, while Dangote continue to secretly keep importing fuel since the refinery would not commence operations until sometimes in 2025?
How come those who are in the business of fuel importation are no longer qualified since Aliko Dangote joined the importation business? Why is it that over 25 Nigerian oil magnates granted licenses to build refineries, it is only Aliko Dangote who got loan from the CBN, and it is only his refinery project the NNPC could buy 20 percent shareholding from?
Obviously, ENERGY TIMES dramatically crashed Aliko Dangote, Muhammadu Buhari, NNPCL Management and Godwin Emefiele’s hidden agenda for the gambit.
Nigerian Government’s unholy support and outright enhancement of fraud for making Dangote the sole importer of fuel after the phony existence of his refinery, is an unforgivable economic heist. So much for the richest man in Africa!
Here is the report for the record: “Barring all unforeseen circumstances, Dangote imported fuel will soon enter Nigerian market as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has granted the Chairman of Dangote Group and President – Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company – Alhaji Aliko Dangote, license to begin the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol into the country pending the completion of the 650,000 barrels per day plant at Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.
“ENERGY TIMES reliably gathered from top Presidency sources that the imported fuel would be discharged at Dangote barge and pumped into tanks and would sell at market dictated price to marketers while work progresses at the refinery,” according to part of the story.
Though the NNPCL spokesperson said it was not the regulatory agency in charge of issuing licenses for fuel importation, he did not deny the fact that Dangote has been granted the sole license.
Onyi Sunday’s words: “The report is misleading. We don’t grant licenses or permits because we are not a regulatory organization. The responsibility lies with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), not NNPCL. You should check with them. NNPCL has just a small stake of 20 per cent in the refinery.”
Surely, the revelations above contradicted Aliko Dangote’s boisterous grandstanding at the commissioning, when he said that the first refined petroleum products from the refinery would hit the market before the end of July or August 2023.
The African economic pillager thought that the deal on sole importer of petroleum products would be concealed in the next few months, so that the asphyxiating economic slavery would continue, unnoticed.
As I wrote earlier, further checks revealed that the $19b dollars refinery is currently at 88% completion stage, while some equipment are still being expected to be delivered by their manufacturers, while those that have been fitted were yet to pass integrity test at the point of commissioning.
Besides, work on production lines including electrical works is behind schedule, as insider sources have revealed. With equipment still being expected and an integrity test yet to be conducted, it is impossible for the refinery to come on stream until March 2025. This is the main reason Dangote was granted a permit to import fuel solely pending the completion of work on the refinery.
“Your excellencies, distinguished guests, our first product will be in the market before the end of July or beginning of August this year,” Dangote had said, adding; “We have built a refinery with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day in a single train which is the largest in the world. We have selected the best plants, equipment and the latest technologies from across the world.”
How long would the Nigerian people continue to accommodate this glaring example of economic treachery?
