Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery will face challenges from those profiting from the petroleum import industry.
Obasanjo made this statement in response to claims made by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group.
This came amid report that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the multibillion-dollar refinery and other domestic refineries had not yet started buying crude oil in naira.
The former president in a Punch report said that the Dangote refinery should inspire both Nigerians and non-Nigerians in an interview with Financial Times.
Obasanjo stated,
Speaking further, Obasanjo revealed that Nigeria is making mistake by disregarding gas and agriculture and placing all of its eggs in what he called one basket of oil.
He explained how the International Oil Company rejected his offer to take over the country’s refineries after he convinced them that there was too much corruption in the industry.
TimesNow.com.ng reported that an expert in the oil and gas industry have asked the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to resist pressure, arguing that the country was not ready to stop importing refined petroleum products.
This came after the NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, made accusations that the Dangote refinery wanted him to stop granting licenses for petrol imports, which prompted the experts to make this statement.
According to Ahmed, he turned down the request to prevent monopolies and guarantee national energy security.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
