July 23, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives has called for the suspension of Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority (NMDPRA), pending conclusive investigations into the allegations against the Authority.
This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Rep. Esosa Iyawe, moved during plenary on Tuesday.
Moving the motion, the lawmaker said the Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, alleged 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.
He expressed concern that the careless statement by Ahmed without conducting any prior investigation is not only unprofessional but also unpatriotic, especially in the face of the recent calls for protest against the Federal Government.
“in their defence, Dangote called for a test of their products, which was supervised by Members of the House of Representatives, wherein it was revealed that Dangote’s diesel had a Sulphur content of 87.6 ppm (parts per million), whereas the other two samples diesel imported showed Sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2000 ppm respectively, thus disproving the allegations made by the NMDPRA boss.
“Allegations have been made that the NMDPRA was giving licences to some traders who regularly import high-Sulphur content diesel into Nigeria, and the use of such products poses grave health risks and huge financial losses for Nigerians.
“The unguarded statements by the Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, which has since been disproved, sparked an outrage from Nigerians who tagged his undermining of local refineries and insistence on the continued importation of fuel an act of economic sabotage, as the imported products have been shown to contain high levels of dangerous compounds”, he said.
The motion was thereafter adopted as amended, referring it to the House special committee of midstream and downstream investigating alleged importation of adulterated petroleum products and scarcity of crude oil for refineries, to look into the matter and offer recommendations.
