Dangote faults quality of imported diesel, demands investigation
The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has claimed that substandard petroleum products are being imported into the country and sold to unsuspecting Nigerians.
Dangote made the claim on Saturday during the visit of the leadership of the House of Representatives, led by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, and his deputy, Benjamin Kalu, to the Dangote Refinery in Lagos State.
The business tycoon said there was a need for an investigation to be carried out to determine if there are some saboteurs in the oil sector or to find out if there are ulterior motives to demarket his business.
Africa’s richest man also said the best way to determine the quality of products being imported and sold to Nigerians is by going to the filling stations and buying and testing them.
He said, “The most important thing, Your Excellency, is to note that the imported one they are encouraging, is the spec in the test, but in certain cases, when you check (independently), different results will show.”
Refuting the allegation made by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, that petroleum products from his refinery are substandard, Dangote said his products are better than imported ones, and they comply with the highest standards.
Dangote, who provided evidence to back up his claim, said diesel bought from two filling stations and that from his refinery was tested at the refinery’s laboratories using the ASTM D4294 method.
The Dangote Group President said the diesel, which was one of the best in terms of quality at the time the refinery started, had a sulphur content of between 600 parts per million and 650 ppm.
While stating that the quality of his diesel has improved as the sulphur content has reduced to 87 ppm, Dangote added that by next Monday, it will reduce to 50 ppm.
He further said the result does not only proof the reality of products from his refinery, but it also shows that substandard petroleum products are being imported into the country.
Dangote noted that the sulphur content of the diesel bought from the two filling stations was over 1,800 ppm and 2,600 ppm, respectively.
He said, “Our quality is about 600 to 650 ppm and is one of the best in terms of quality at that time when we started. But as of today, we’re at 87 ppm.“
I want to plead with the regulator to come at any time, whether Sunday or Monday or take the sample, and I guarantee you before he gets here, our ppm will be even below 10.
