ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian lawmakers on Monday launched an investigation into the alleged importation of contaminated fuel into the country, part of efforts to resolve problems that led to a rift between an oil refinery owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote and the sector supervisor.
A legislative committee tasked with conducting the inquiry is also probing allegations of the “arbitrary issuance of permits and alleged unavailability of international standard laboratories” responsible for such contaminated products, its chairman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said in the capital Abuja.
The committee called on parties in Nigeria’s petroleum sector to defuse tensions, which have been heightened in recent weeks by accusations from the regulator that Dangote is seeking a monopoly on the market and that the products from his refinery are of substandard quality.
The refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day in the economic hub of Lagos is the largest in Africa and was touted by authorities as a game changer that would end the oil-rich country’s dependence on imported petrol.
However, the $19 billion facility has gotten off to a slow start despite opening more than a year ago. getting crude oil from other countries after the country failed to secure oil supplies in Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest oil producers. The country’s ability to be one of Africa’s largest oil producers has been hampered by oil theft and chronic corruption.
A senior executive at the refinery has also accused international oil companies in Nigeria of plotting the refinery’s bankruptcy. “It’s either they are deliberately asking for a ridiculous premium or they are simply saying that crude is not available,” Devakumar Edwin, a vice president at Dangote Industries, said of the companies.
The challenges for the Dangote refinery were compounded last week when the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority said its product quality, along with that of other local refineries, was “inferior” to that of imported products.
“Dangote is asking us to suspend or stop the import of all petroleum products… and that is not good for the market because of the monopoly,” said Farouk Ahmed, director of the regulatory body.
Dangote denied both claims and invited lawmakers to inspect the plant where the product was tested. He said he had not received any incentive from the Nigerian government regarding the refinery. He has also said he is scrapping plans to invest in Nigeria’s steel industry.
It is not clear what the origins of the rift between Nigerian authorities and Dangote, whose companies also dominate markets such as cement and flour, are. The dispute began after last year’s presidential election, which was won by President Bola Tinubu, who replaced Muhammadu Buhari, a known ally of Dangote, who had completed his term as president.
Analysts say such a dispute could send the wrong message as the country seeks to boost foreign investment and stabilise its ailing economy.
Such claims about low-quality products from the refinery seem “odd,” especially when presented without evidence and in the absence of consumer complaints, Nigerian economist Bismarck Rewane said. He reiterated concerns that the claims are merely a sign of deeper-rooted problems.
