Dangote Refinery: Lawmakers back Kyari, Ahmed amid calls for removal

Some members of the House of Representatives have condemned the calls for the removal of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, from office.

Messrs Kyari and Ahmed are under investigation by a House committee due to allegations brought forward by Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group.

On Thursday, a group of lawmakers, who claimed to be about 50 in number, held a press conference at the National Assembly Complex to rally support for Messrs Kyari and Ahmed.

Billy Osawaru (APC, Edo), who spoke on behalf of the group, said the House committee handling the matter must be impartial.

Mr Osawaru, flanked by 29 other lawmakers, said there are others not present at the briefing who also support the move to protect the regulators.

Dispute between Dangote and the regulators

The Dangote Group and the petroleum regulators in Nigeria have been at loggerheads over the control of the petroleum downstream market in the past couple of months.

Last month, Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Oil and Gas at the Dangote Group, accused the NMDPRA of allowing marketers to import dirty fuel into the country.

Mr Ahmed responded with a claim that diesel from the plant, as well as that from modular refineries like Waltersmith and Aradel, contains high sulphur levels.

On Saturday, Mr Dangote debunked the claim during a tour of both the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Dangote Fertiliser Limited complex by members of the House of Representatives, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and other members.

During another media chat, Mr Dangote made some allegations about a blending plant in Malta where some government officials have stakes.

Last week, the House resolved that Mr Ahmed should be suspended pending the conclusion of the investigation into the matter. However, President Bola Tinubu has yet to comply with the resolution of the House.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Spokesperson of the House, Philip Agbese, had asked President Tinubu to immediately dismiss Mr Kyari and other inherited appointees.

Call for sack amid investigation “Unparliamentary”— Mr Osawaru

Speaking on the call for the sack of Messrs Kyari and Ahmed, Mr Osawaru said they should be given a fair hearing and allowed to present their side of the story.

“We are aware that the investigation is ongoing and a final decision has not been reached. However, our attention has been drawn to some media reports calling for the removal of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL and the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA while the investigation is ongoing.

“We wish to state that it is in the parliamentary culture to afford parties in an investigation the right to a fair hearing. Therefore, the call for the removal of anyone while the investigation is pending is premature.

“We therefore call on all Nigerians to be patient and law-abiding in expectation of a better Nigeria,” Mr Osawaru said.