NMDPRA CEO, Farouk Ahmed, risks facing sanction as the House of Representatives has asked the federal government to suspend him over ‘unguarded statement’ on Dangote refinery
The House of Representatives has called on the federal government to suspend Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), pending conclusion of investigations into his ‘unguarded statements’ regarding Dangote refinery.
This was a sequel to the adoption of a motion on: “Urgent Need to Address the Outrage Resulting from Unguarded Comments by the NMDPRA Chief Executive”, sponsored by Rep. Esosa Iyawe (LP Edo) at plenary on Tuesday.
Iyawe stressed the need for a thorough investigation into claims of adulterated fuel, emphasizing that poor fuel quality can damage engines and increase pollution. He advocated for ultra-low sulphur diesel, highlighting global standards aimed at reducing emissions.
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Despite these standards, the NMDPRA currently allows local refiners to produce diesel with sulphur content up to 650 parts per million (ppm) until January 2025, as per ECOWAS regulations.
He quoted the NMDPRA boss as saying 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 1,200 ppm.
He said: “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.”
Iyawe condemned what he called the careless statement by Farouk, noting that “without conducting any prior investigation, he was not only unprofessional but also unpatriotic, especially in the face of the recent calls for protest against the federal government.”
OrderPaper recalls that a joint committee of the House on Monday, July 22, 2024, commenced investigations into Farouk’s allegations against Dangote refinery.
The panel, comprising the committees on Petroleum (Downstream and Midstream) is also conducting a legislative forensic investigation into “the presence of middlemen in crude trading and alleged unavailability of international standard laboratories to check adulterated products”, among others.
STAR Check: Nigerians, particularly, constituents of Oredo Federal Constituency , can keep tabs on the legislative performance of Rep. Iyawe throughout the 10th House here
