A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has announced their intention to closely monitor the compliance of the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited (NNPCL) in its crude oil sales to the Dangote Refinery.
This move, according to the CSOs aims to ensure transparency and adherence to regulatory standards in the dealings between the state oil company and the privately owned refinery.
The CSOs made their accusation known during a facility tour of the 650,000 bpd refinery in Lagos.
Speaking, Solomon Adodo of the Rise Up for A United Nigeria, spoke on behalf of the 28 CSOs through a statement issued on Monday.
Adodo expressed dismay over the government’s apparent reluctance to support the local refinery, despite its potential to alleviate the nation’s fuel crisis and foreign exchange challenges.
The group further accused the NNPCL of disregarding President Bola Tinubu’s directive to sell crude oil to the Dangote Refinery in Naira.
The CSOs vowed to intensify advocacy efforts to compel the government to prioritise the Dangote Refinery and ensure its smooth operation.
The statement read, “The disposition of the NNPCL and the regulatory agencies is a clear indication that they deliberately held down the nation’s refineries so that they could continue importing petroleum products.
“Having gone round to see this world-class project, we are at a loss as to why the government could decide to turn against Nigerians in this manner.
“We are ready to defend this facility with everything as civil society organizations.
“We are going to set up a situation room to monitor the compliance of the NNPCL with the directive of Mr President that Dangote Refinery would be supplied with Crude in Naira because we know that the enemies of the people would want to adopt another strategy to sabotage the presidential directive.”
The Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, echoed the CSOs’ concerns, highlighting the refinery’s potential to transform Nigeria’s economy.
“This is what Dangote refinery seeks to correct, we did the same in the Cement and Sugar sectors where Nigeria was a leading importer of those products and with the coming of Dangote leading the backward integration programme of the government, others came into the sector and together Nigeria now exports cement to other countries,” Edwin explained.
Despite facing numerous challenges, including difficulties in securing crude oil supply, the Dangote Refinery remains committed to its vision of transforming Nigeria’s petroleum industry, according to Edwin.
