The Federal House of Representatives, in its second sitting after the inauguration of the 10th Assembly, has rejected the motion seeking to suspend the license allegedly granted to Dangote Refinery as the sole importer of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.
A lawmaker representing Albasu/Gaya/Agingi federal constituency in Kano state at the Green Chamber, Hon. Mustapha Gali Tijjani, had called for the suspension of the license for a review to accommodate all the petroleum marketers.
The House of Representatives, however, moved against the motion, as shown on Channels TV, which covered the plenary today.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Tuesday denied claims that it already gave a license to the Dangote refinery owner, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, to import petrol pending the completion of his refinery.
NNPCL stated that it is not within its jurisdiction to grant a license or permit for fuel importation.
According to the report published in a national daily, the writer alleged that the imported fuel would be discharged at the Dangote barge and pumped into tanks to be sold at a market-dictated price to marketers while work progresses at the refinery.
But reacting to the report, the NNPCL spokesperson, Onyi Sunday, allegedly described the report as misleading and said that the company was not a regulatory organization.
“The report is misleading. We don’t grant licenses or permits because we are not a regulatory organization,” Sunday said, as quoted by the Nigerian Tribune.
“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 percent in the refinery.”
Recall that the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, on May 22 commissioned the Dangote Oil Refinery to immediately commence operations.
Dangote thereafter said his first goal is to ramp up production of the various products to ensure that, within this year, his mega oil refinery will fully satisfy the nation’s demand for quality products.
The $19 billion project, which is the world’s largest single-train refinery in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos, was funded by Dangote, with NNPCL having a 20% stake in it.
The project is expected to churn out gasoline, diesel (AGO), aviation jet fuel, dual-purpose kerosene (DPK), and other refined products.
The 650,000 barrels per day refinery is expected to enable Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in refined products and even have a surplus for export.
