By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The federal government has been urged to put an end to the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, and automated gas oil (AGO), otherwise known as diesel, because it is putting the nation at the mercy of some oil cartels and international oil companies (IOCs).
This appeal was made by a group known as the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSTCOM) over the weekend.
The association was reacting to the recent development involving the lamentation of Africa’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, who claimed that IOCs were frustrating the operations of his $20 billion refinery in Lagos.
HOSTCOM lamented that despite the billions of dollars spent on turnaround maintenance of Nigeria’s refineries, the country remains reliant on importing refined products.
This persistent issue, it argues, highlights the widespread corruption within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, allegedly orchestrated by influential cabals who are intent on maintaining the status quo of exporting crude oil while importing refined petroleum products, warning that it will not hesitate to publicly name these identified cabals if necessary.
It threatened to renew agitation for greater autonomy and control of its natural resources if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the IOCs fail to sell and supply crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in their bid to ensure that Nigeria becomes self-sufficient in the local production of petroleum products.
The National President of HOSTCOM, Mr Benjamin Tamaramiebi, accompanied by his executives and traditional rulers from the Niger Delta region, during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals and the Dangote Fertiliser Limited complex in Lagos, also called for the removal of the chief executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed, over his recent statement that the government would not halt the importation of refined petroleum products.
“Our visit today to the largest and magnificent 650,000 bpd private refinery in Africa (Dangote Refinery) has opened our eyes to several ills, particularly the monumental corruption going on in the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” Mr Tamaramiebi said.
“It is obvious why the existing federal government refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna can never work or operate maximally despite the billions of dollars spent on so-called turn-around maintenance (TAM) over the years.
“It is now clear that some persons in government and outside government have been identified as the cabal holding Nigeria’s oil sector by the jugular. We have identified them, and we shall reveal their names to the people of Nigeria if this trend continues,” he added.
Mr Tamaramiebi called on President Bola Tinubu to support and sustain Dangote Refinery, advising him to “do away with the cabals holding the oil sector to ransom,” emphasising that the government must not tolerate the economic sabotage being carried out by the IOCs operating in Nigeria, which have refused to sell crude oil to the Dangote Refinery and other modular refineries.
“We call on Mr President to direct NNPC or NNPCL to compel the IOCs operating in our communities to sell and supply crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in line with Section 109 of the Petroleum Industry Act PIA 2021, particularly Section 109(4)(b), which states that “the supply of crude oil shall be commercially negotiated between the lessee and the crude oil refining licensee, having regard to the prevailing international market price for similar grades of crude oil.”
In his remarks, the Vice President for Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Devakumar Edwin, in his remarks, explained that the refinery was established primarily to source and refine local crudes for the benefit of Nigeria while also exporting excess production to boost the economy.
He noted that the lack of sufficient Nigerian crude supplies has necessitated importing crude from other countries and continents, adding that if the refinery had not been designed to process a wide range of crudes, including various African and Middle Eastern crudes as well as US Light Tight Oil, it would have become inactive due to the lack of Nigerian crude supplies.
