Adeola Yusuf: Industry Stakeholders Must Work Together, No One Wants An Investment Of Dangote’s Magnitude To Die

Energy Policy Analyst and Team Lead of Platforms Africa, Adeola Yusuf, has said that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), and the management of the Dangote refinery should work hand in hand to ensure that the dirty diesel allegation controversy is solved in the best interest of Nigerians.

Yusuf said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, where he also hailed the minister of state petroleum resources (oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, for his timely intervention in the matter.

Speaking on the issue, Yusuf said, “It’s a very beautiful thing that the minister took that initiative to intervene as quickly as possible. Mind you, it would have degenerated and exposed a lot of things about Nigeria and its location in the oil and gas sector, so, it’s a good thing.

“But foundationally, it’s important that we say it that people have been having different perspectives to this issue, and I want to just classify the perspectives into three. The first ones are the ‘my candidate can never do any wrong’ perspective,” describing these people as those that are either aligning to the Dangote or the NMDPRA side of the story.

He referred to the second set of people as those who understand that “this is a business survival war, and you are likely to get perspective that is very close to objectivity from those ones.”

He then referred to the third set of people as the “commoners” who will be fighting on the side of the NNPC, who should not even be a part of this misunderstanding.

“Where I want everyone to understand is that this is a business survival war, remember that it started with Dangote making the allegation that dirty diesel has flooded Nigerian market, and NMDPRA needed to now respond after like a month, and accused Dangote as well of producing a product that’s less standard when comparing to standard that they have set,” he said.

The analyst then explained the need for a quick resolution to this petroleum based issue as he said, “Let me paint a scenario. Dangote refinery is a $20 billion refinery. It is one of, as of today, it is one of the biggest oil and gas projects in the world when it comes to investments, when it comes to landmass and all that. And it’s being sited in Nigeria, even though there are talks about its location being in the free trade zone, but it’s still sited in Nigeria. So, no one that is reasonable will want an investment of that magnitude to die. Of course that’s number one.

“Then number 2, remember that there are some people- you know, when I was making my comment, that were even putting NNPC in this whole fight. But I want to believe that NNPC is not directly linked, and the reason for that is this. Remember that what we are having issues for now is diesel, and Dangote refinery is not yet producing petrol. It will start production, according to information available, by august. Remember that after a lot postponement of days for beginning of the refineries, the NNPC has as well picked August for Port Harcourt refinery to start producing petrol. So, up till this ample moment, maybe it is a forecast misunderstanding, but up till this ample moment, no one can place NNPC in that triangle. But what we know is that NNPC, Dangote, NMDPRA, all of them have to work together in the best interests of Nigeria.

“And an angle I want everyone to be conscious of is that no Nigerian below the ladder- I’m talking about the consumer of this product- should join in the fight of Dangote versus NMPDRA, or Dangote versus NNPC, or Dangote versus anybody. Reason being that if there is that understanding, profit-margin understanding, because it’s a business fight, everyone will align. And at the end of the day, Nigerians that want to go to “war” because of these business understanding will have themselves to blame at the end of the day, because everything, whether the agreement goes right or left, we are still going to queue up at the filling stations to buy product, that is when we don’t have.

“And so, it is important that we understand that this fight- I shouldn’t even call it fight, this misunderstanding in the best interest of Nigerians should be resolved, and I will have to give kudos to the minister for that intervention. And I hope that the intervention will get the desired results.”

Yusuf also spoke of the panel that the House of Representatives is setting up to look into this matter saying, “It’s a good thing that, just like you have mentioned earlier, the House of Representatives is looking into this, it’s good. But some of us have been following this sector for some time. You’ll all recollect that in February 2022, actually there was allegation of dirty fuel, and we all remember committees being set up for that as well. So, your guess is as good as mine. But it will be very good, because I am an incurable optimist about Nigerian projects, I want to believe that this will see the light of the day. But those that are setting up that committee should be reminded that there was a committee that we were told will be set up during that time. Up till now, we don’t have it.”

“We will need the leadership of NMDPRA to come out clear as to what were the challenges or why we didn’t have reports from that pro-panel set up. So, we need them to say that. But I think it’s important that I as well say that this “rofo rofo” is not good for Dangote, it’s not good for NMDPRA, it’s not good for Nigeria as well,” he added.

The analyst was then asked about possible solutions to this matter, to which he responded, “There will be so many resolutions, but I will put everything under two categories. The first one will be the resolution about putting all this diesel into an independent laboratory test to that allegation. And Nigerians will not forget, Dangote made the allegations, NMDPRA made the allegations. So, the last time Dangote said that okay, he has a laboratory where he employs about 500 people of international standard, NMDPRA has said that Dangote diesel is below, so, we have to. And this thing is not politics, it is science- subjecting everything to independent laboratory tests. That one is one of the ways that resolution can be. And at the end of the day, whosoever is conducting that will say okay, this is the true position of things.

“Number 2 is to ensure that the- I know everyone of them is trying to protect interests, but everybody should have it at the back of everybody’s mind is that the interest that should be projected and protected at this moment should be the interest that will favour Nigerians.”

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi

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