Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The management of Dangote Industries Limited has hinted that the much-anticipated commissioning of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos would happen before the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023.
This hint was dropped by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Anthony Chiejina, in a statement to rebuff reports that Mr Buhari commissioned the project during his two-day visit to Lagos on Monday.
The oil facility, which has the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is being built by a billionaire businessman, Mr Aliko Dangote.
President Buhari, during his visit to Lagos, commissioned some projects embarked upon by the state government and a private individual.
Some of the projects he commissioned were the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the 32-Metric Tonnes Imota Rice Mill, the 18.75km Eleko to Epe T Junction Expressway, the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History, the Blue Line Rail (Phase 1 from Marina to Mile 2), the groundbreaking for the Blue Line Rail Phase 2 from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko, and the MRS Lubricant.
The Dangote Refinery was not among the projects inaugurated by Mr Buhari, a statement from the conglomerate emphasised.
“Our attention has been drawn to some misleading reports regarding the commissioning of our Dangote Refinery during the present working visit of President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR to Lagos State.
“We want to state categorically that our 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery project was never part of the President’s programme on projects to be commissioned,” a part of the statement stressed.
“However, our Refinery will be commissioned before President Muhammadu Buhari formally leaves office in May 2023, and the public will be duly informed and invited to the epic event,” the company concluded.
