Tuesday, June 24, 2025
  • About Us
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
The Daily Crucible
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
    FG Gives N60B To Gombe For Agro-Livestock Industrial Zone

    FG Gives N60B To Gombe For Agro-Livestock Industrial Zone

    Pelican Valley CEO, Dabiri-Erewa To Poach Diaspora Investments From UK

    Pelican Valley CEO, Dabiri-Erewa To Poach Diaspora Investments From UK

    Nigeria’s Foreign Trade Hits ₦36,025 Billion In Q1, ’25 As Oil, Non – Oil Exports Rise

    Nigeria’s Foreign Trade Hits ₦36,025 Billion In Q1, ’25 As Oil, Non – Oil Exports Rise

     Let Bayo Ojulari Clean the Rot In NNPCL, Oil Experts Tell Tinubu

     Let Bayo Ojulari Clean the Rot In NNPCL, Oil Experts Tell Tinubu

    FCCPC Unveils Committee To Combat Counterfeit Products

    FCCPC Unveils Committee To Combat Counterfeit Products

    No More Compensation For Developers Who Failed To Observe Building Regulations – Tinubu

    No More Compensation For Developers Who Failed To Observe Building Regulations – Tinubu

    Trending Tags

    • Market Stories
    • Bitcoin
    • Litecoin
    • Harbolnas
    • United Stated
    • Property
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
    Amosun’s Wife, Other Descendants of Ogunbona Agboketoyinbo Mark 164th Memorial of their Revered Egba Warlord

    Amosun’s Wife, Other Descendants of Ogunbona Agboketoyinbo Mark 164th Memorial of their Revered Egba Warlord

    ‘Steeze,’ Glamour As Ijebu Celebrates Ojude Oba Cultural Carnival

    ‘Steeze,’ Glamour As Ijebu Celebrates Ojude Oba Cultural Carnival

    Surveyor Haleemat Oluwatoyin Yusuf’s Day Of Double Celebration 

    Surveyor Haleemat Oluwatoyin Yusuf’s Day Of Double Celebration 

    Giant Of African Literature Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Departs At 87

    Giant Of African Literature Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Departs At 87

    If Akeredolu Had Listened To Me, I Wouldn’t Be a Widow, Laments Ex – Governor’s Wife, Betty

    If Akeredolu Had Listened To Me, I Wouldn’t Be a Widow, Laments Ex – Governor’s Wife, Betty

    Valentine: 2Baba Proposes To Edo Lawmaker Natasha Osawaru

    Valentine: 2Baba Proposes To Edo Lawmaker Natasha Osawaru

    Trending Tags

    • Bitcoin
    • Champions League
    • Explore Bali
    • Golden Globes 2018
    • Grammy Awards
    • Harbolnas
  • Entertainment
    ‘Steeze,’ Glamour As Ijebu Celebrates Ojude Oba Cultural Carnival

    ‘Steeze,’ Glamour As Ijebu Celebrates Ojude Oba Cultural Carnival

    Tinubu, Gov Mbah Mourn Nonagenarian Highlife Music Icon Ejeagha

    Tinubu, Gov Mbah Mourn Nonagenarian Highlife Music Icon Ejeagha

    Drug Cartel Members Abdúct, Kíll 5 Musicians On Way To Concert Venue

    Drug Cartel Members Abdúct, Kíll 5 Musicians On Way To Concert Venue

    I’m Still Saving My Virginity – Actress Olayode

    I’m Still Saving My Virginity – Actress Olayode

    My Ultimate Vision Is To Elevate African Sounds On the Global Stage – Ebonny Musik

    My Ultimate Vision Is To Elevate African Sounds On the Global Stage – Ebonny Musik

    I’ll Name 7 Celebrities I’ve Dated In Nigeria – Bobrisky

    I’ll Name 7 Celebrities I’ve Dated In Nigeria – Bobrisky

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes 2018
    • Grammy Awards
    • Explore Bali
    • Champions League
    • Harbolnas
  • Sports
    NSF Tragedy: Abiodun Mourns, Sends Delegation To Kano, Supports Victims’ Families With N31m

    NSF Tragedy: Abiodun Mourns, Sends Delegation To Kano, Supports Victims’ Families With N31m

    Gateway Games: Protesting Ogun Athletes Lift Siege At Games Village

    Gateway Games: Protesting Ogun Athletes Lift Siege At Games Village

    Gateway Games Activities Grounded As Ogun Athletes Protest Over Unpaid Allowance

    Gateway Games Activities Grounded As Ogun Athletes Protest Over Unpaid Allowance

    Odogbolu Leads As First Local Govt To Adopt eSports

    Odogbolu Leads As First Local Govt To Adopt eSports

    Gateway Games: Athletes, Spectators Flee As Gas Explosion Rocks Alake Sports Complex

    Gateway Games: Athletes, Spectators Flee As Gas Explosion Rocks Alake Sports Complex

    Gateway Games: NSC Disqualifies 6 Athletes Over Alleged Doping Issues

    Gateway Games: NSC Disqualifies 6 Athletes Over Alleged Doping Issues

    Trending Tags

    • Champions League
    • Explore Bali
    • Harbolnas
    • United Stated
    • Market Stories
    • Litecoin
No Result
View All Result
The Daily Crucible
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
    FG Gives N60B To Gombe For Agro-Livestock Industrial Zone

    FG Gives N60B To Gombe For Agro-Livestock Industrial Zone

    Pelican Valley CEO, Dabiri-Erewa To Poach Diaspora Investments From UK

    Pelican Valley CEO, Dabiri-Erewa To Poach Diaspora Investments From UK

    Nigeria’s Foreign Trade Hits ₦36,025 Billion In Q1, ’25 As Oil, Non – Oil Exports Rise

    Nigeria’s Foreign Trade Hits ₦36,025 Billion In Q1, ’25 As Oil, Non – Oil Exports Rise

     Let Bayo Ojulari Clean the Rot In NNPCL, Oil Experts Tell Tinubu

     Let Bayo Ojulari Clean the Rot In NNPCL, Oil Experts Tell Tinubu

    FCCPC Unveils Committee To Combat Counterfeit Products

    FCCPC Unveils Committee To Combat Counterfeit Products

    No More Compensation For Developers Who Failed To Observe Building Regulations – Tinubu

    No More Compensation For Developers Who Failed To Observe Building Regulations – Tinubu

    Trending Tags

    • Market Stories
    • Bitcoin
    • Litecoin
    • Harbolnas
    • United Stated
    • Property
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
    Amosun’s Wife, Other Descendants of Ogunbona Agboketoyinbo Mark 164th Memorial of their Revered Egba Warlord

    Amosun’s Wife, Other Descendants of Ogunbona Agboketoyinbo Mark 164th Memorial of their Revered Egba Warlord

    ‘Steeze,’ Glamour As Ijebu Celebrates Ojude Oba Cultural Carnival

    ‘Steeze,’ Glamour As Ijebu Celebrates Ojude Oba Cultural Carnival

    Surveyor Haleemat Oluwatoyin Yusuf’s Day Of Double Celebration 

    Surveyor Haleemat Oluwatoyin Yusuf’s Day Of Double Celebration 

    Giant Of African Literature Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Departs At 87

    Giant Of African Literature Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Departs At 87

    If Akeredolu Had Listened To Me, I Wouldn’t Be a Widow, Laments Ex – Governor’s Wife, Betty

    If Akeredolu Had Listened To Me, I Wouldn’t Be a Widow, Laments Ex – Governor’s Wife, Betty

    Valentine: 2Baba Proposes To Edo Lawmaker Natasha Osawaru

    Valentine: 2Baba Proposes To Edo Lawmaker Natasha Osawaru

    Trending Tags

    • Bitcoin
    • Champions League
    • Explore Bali
    • Golden Globes 2018
    • Grammy Awards
    • Harbolnas
  • Entertainment
    ‘Steeze,’ Glamour As Ijebu Celebrates Ojude Oba Cultural Carnival

    ‘Steeze,’ Glamour As Ijebu Celebrates Ojude Oba Cultural Carnival

    Tinubu, Gov Mbah Mourn Nonagenarian Highlife Music Icon Ejeagha

    Tinubu, Gov Mbah Mourn Nonagenarian Highlife Music Icon Ejeagha

    Drug Cartel Members Abdúct, Kíll 5 Musicians On Way To Concert Venue

    Drug Cartel Members Abdúct, Kíll 5 Musicians On Way To Concert Venue

    I’m Still Saving My Virginity – Actress Olayode

    I’m Still Saving My Virginity – Actress Olayode

    My Ultimate Vision Is To Elevate African Sounds On the Global Stage – Ebonny Musik

    My Ultimate Vision Is To Elevate African Sounds On the Global Stage – Ebonny Musik

    I’ll Name 7 Celebrities I’ve Dated In Nigeria – Bobrisky

    I’ll Name 7 Celebrities I’ve Dated In Nigeria – Bobrisky

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes 2018
    • Grammy Awards
    • Explore Bali
    • Champions League
    • Harbolnas
  • Sports
    NSF Tragedy: Abiodun Mourns, Sends Delegation To Kano, Supports Victims’ Families With N31m

    NSF Tragedy: Abiodun Mourns, Sends Delegation To Kano, Supports Victims’ Families With N31m

    Gateway Games: Protesting Ogun Athletes Lift Siege At Games Village

    Gateway Games: Protesting Ogun Athletes Lift Siege At Games Village

    Gateway Games Activities Grounded As Ogun Athletes Protest Over Unpaid Allowance

    Gateway Games Activities Grounded As Ogun Athletes Protest Over Unpaid Allowance

    Odogbolu Leads As First Local Govt To Adopt eSports

    Odogbolu Leads As First Local Govt To Adopt eSports

    Gateway Games: Athletes, Spectators Flee As Gas Explosion Rocks Alake Sports Complex

    Gateway Games: Athletes, Spectators Flee As Gas Explosion Rocks Alake Sports Complex

    Gateway Games: NSC Disqualifies 6 Athletes Over Alleged Doping Issues

    Gateway Games: NSC Disqualifies 6 Athletes Over Alleged Doping Issues

    Trending Tags

    • Champions League
    • Explore Bali
    • Harbolnas
    • United Stated
    • Market Stories
    • Litecoin
No Result
View All Result
The Daily Crucible
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

NNPC Vs Dangote: Where The Truth Lies 

The Daily Crucible by The Daily Crucible
July 26, 2024
in Opinion
0
NNPC Vs Dangote: Where The Truth Lies 

The closed-door meeting among the feuding parties, which Tinubu ordered on Monday, may keep them on a leash for a while, but it hardly addresses the underlying issues. If products from the Dangote Refinery currently exceed the sulphur levels—as Dangote had also said on a different occasion—why can’t the regulator work with the refinery to fix it without a scandalous press conference?

By Azu Ishiekwene

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is not a stranger to adversity or its more sinister cousin, sabotage.

You might also like

How Atiku, El-Rufai, Amaechi Can Learn From Tinubu’s School Of Politics

2027: What Is In The Bag For The Southeast?

2027: What Is In The Bag For The Southeast?

One of the bitterest battles he has fought in the last 25 years—the cement war—was against his kinsman and founder of BUA Group, Abdulsamad Rabiu. Folks close to both men have tried to patch them up, but the embers are still smouldering.

Dangote’s face-off with the Kogi state government under former Governor Yahaya Bello over rights and royalties from Dangote Cement, Obajana, for the local community, was a skirmish compared to the cement war with Rabiu.

Wealth and comfort can be strange bedfellows, often mutually exclusive in the quest to conquer one mountain after the other. Dangote knows this only too well. And nowhere has the lesson been more evident than his pursuit to own a refinery.

I told this story before in an article in May 2023. In the twilight of the ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, the government sold off two of Nigeria’s moribund refineries—Port Harcourt and Kaduna—to Blue Star, a Dangote-led consortium. Blue Star paid $670 million for the plants and walked away, thinking the deal was done. It wasn’t.

In 2007, the government of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua capitulated. It refunded Dangote under pressure from labour unions and vested interests in the refineries on the excuse that the assets were “national patrimony” that should not be sold, “just like that!” It didn’t matter that at the time of sale, both refineries produced less than 20 per cent of capacity without hope or promise of improvement.

Our officials spend hundreds of thousands of dollars touring the world for foreign investors only to chew local investors with a microphone in a fit of what? Rage, sabotage, indiscretion or stupidity?

Dangote took his money and walked away, bruised but unbowed. Six years later, he announced plans to build a private refinery, first in Ogun state, and later, he moved it to Lagos with a capacity of 650,000 bpd—over 200,000 more than the installed capacity of Nigeria’s four refineries combined.

Dangote’s single-train refinery, originally estimated to cost $12 billion but finished at around $20 billion, is now at the centre of another storm. It’s not about International Oil Companies (IOCs) he accused of trying to undermine him. It’s the more deadly variety of wars: the one from within.

The regulators, particularly the head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, said in a television interview in the State House with the NNPC Group CEO, Mele Kyari, present, that Dangote Refinery was making products with unsafe Sulphur levels, and also trying to monopolise the industry.

Ahmed can raise valid safety concerns as a regulator and call out a monopoly. The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provides safety standards and a price reflexive framework to prevent a monopoly. Under the Act, the regulator is empowered to act in the interest of consumers and fair play.

Ahmed didn’t say precisely what the tolerable sulphur level was or provide evidence that Dangote was trying to become a monopoly. Instead, he contradicted himself by mentioning at least two other refineries, Waltersmith and Aradel, operating at different capacities. If this were a chat in a beer parlour, it would be pardonable.

But to think that the head of a regulatory agency will level an accusation of unsafe sulphur levels and offer no response when he was told that neither his agency nor the NNPC had a laboratory is scary. I’m not sure why Kyari stood beside him, grinning. Or why the State House posted the video on its official handle.

But the whole show leaves a bitter, corrosive aftertaste of sulfurous proportions.

Dangote has been accused of many things. He has been accused of feeding off government indulgences, from waivers to tax breaks and preferential forex allocations, even though he was not the only beneficiary. Even the 20 per cent stake in the Dangote Refinery, which we are now told the government paid only 7.2 per cent, left many questions about that transaction needing to be answered.

On another front, some have accused Dangote of hedging his bet poorly in the 2023 election that brought President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to power, unlike his adversary, Rabiu, who appears to have hit the bull’s eye.

But none of these charges is as unkind as those of Ahmed, who, if shame still means anything, should not have uttered the first letter of the ‘s-word’, never mind the phrase “sulphur levels.” I’m not sure he can find his way to a viable lab owned by NMDPRA or NNPC because there isn’t one. The regulators rely on third-party labs in Lagos, such as GMO, Sewort, SGS, and others, to vet its imported petroleum products.

Yet, Ahmed chooses to publicly discredit, without proof, products that we are told have been repeatedly ordered by TotalEnergies and BP, among others.

In response to a question from a LEADERSHIP reporter on Tuesday about whether NNPC has a lab, the corporation said, “NNPC conducts rigorous testing on all its products to ensure they meet global safety and quality standards,” adding that NMDPRA can provide verified data through regular official reports. What does that mean in English?

And Kyari seemed pleased with this scandalous drama even though NNPC, which he superintends, has spent about $25 billion in turnaround maintenance of moribund refineries in the last 25 years, plus the recent $1.5 billion spent on his watch for more turnaround. One of the subsidiaries, PHRC, employed 487 new staff four years ago and paid N23 billion in salaries without producing one litre of petrol.

All that consumers are asking for, after losing a significant part of the battle for price, is the availability of petroleum products. God knows what they are getting under the current monopolistic system, which permits NNPC to play around with import licences, are long queues, contaminated products, and a regulator mockingly claiming to be a public company.

Suppose Dangote Refinery is in breach of any regulations; what steps have the regulators taken to call the refinery to order or help them overcome, except if they claim there was evidence of a malicious default? Our officials spend hundreds of thousands of dollars touring the world for foreign investors only to chew local investors with a microphone in a fit of what? Rage, sabotage, indiscretion or stupidity?

The closed-door meeting among the feuding parties, which Tinubu ordered on Monday, may keep them on a leash for a while, but it hardly addresses the underlying issues. If products from the Dangote Refinery currently exceed the sulphur levels—as Dangote had also said on a different occasion—why can’t the regulator work with the refinery to fix it without a scandalous press conference?

ADVERTISEMENT

And is the talk about monopoly a fear-induced trope? How can Ahmed even speak of a monopoly when supply is hardly available, and the current distortionist-in-chief is NNPC, the sole importer of petrol and sole awarder of import licences for diesel?

It doesn’t smell good. Dangote Refinery is only 45 per cent complete—the entire plant? Yet, Kyari and Ahmed joined former President Muhammadu Buhari in inaugurating the plant last year? Seriously?

After years of working with petrol importers in his former life as the chief executive of PPMC, Ahmed is struggling with his new role as a regulator. He deserves public sympathy and can get it without being a retailer of beer parlour gossip or a bagman for vested interests.

•Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It

•Opinions, positions or thoughts expressed here are personal and strictly of the writers/authors and not The Daily Crucible.

Previous Post

President Of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu Is Dead

Next Post

DSS Unmasks Sponsors Of Planned Protests

The Daily Crucible

The Daily Crucible

The Daily Crucible Newspaper is an authoritative and independent online news medium established to deliver professional journalism for the purpose of fostering Nigeria's unity, peace, progress and greatness, given the heterogeneity of her citizens. We shall vigorously pursue this vision and anchor it on tripod of truth, justice and fairness. We shall feed the general public with robust information they need to make informed decision on issues and matters that affect them, promote human - capital development, freedom and free market enterprise. And our loyalty shall be to Nigeria and public interest, and shall respect ethnic, religious and political diversity without being partisan and sectional.

Related Posts

How Atiku, El-Rufai, Amaechi Can Learn From Tinubu’s School Of Politics
Opinion

How Atiku, El-Rufai, Amaechi Can Learn From Tinubu’s School Of Politics

by The Daily Crucible
June 22, 2025
2027: What Is In The Bag For The Southeast?
Opinion

2027: What Is In The Bag For The Southeast?

by The Daily Crucible
June 21, 2025
2027: What Is In The Bag For The Southeast?
Opinion

2027: What Is In The Bag For The Southeast?

by The Daily Crucible
June 21, 2025
Seeing Nigeria From My American Daughter’s Eyes
Opinion

Seeing Nigeria From My American Daughter’s Eyes

by The Daily Crucible
June 21, 2025
Kudos To Iran For Showing Compelling Courage
Opinion

Kudos To Iran For Showing Compelling Courage

by The Daily Crucible
June 16, 2025
Next Post
DSS Unmasks Sponsors Of Planned Protests

DSS Unmasks Sponsors Of Planned Protests

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Egba Descendants Celebrate Elegant & Brilliant Olanike At 50

Egba Descendants Celebrate Elegant & Brilliant Olanike At 50

May 13, 2023
Why I Resigned As NIA DG  –  Abubakar

Why I Resigned As NIA DG  –  Abubakar

August 25, 2024

Categories

  • Business
  • Column
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Interview
  • Lifestyle
  • Metro
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Property
  • Sports
  • World

Don't miss it

IA-Foundation Visits Makoko Community, Identifies Out-of-School Children For Bursary Scheme
Education

IA-Foundation Visits Makoko Community, Identifies Out-of-School Children For Bursary Scheme

June 24, 2025
Ogun 2027: Adeola Warns Supporters Over Media Onslaughts Against GNI, Others
News

Ogun 2027: Adeola Warns Supporters Over Media Onslaughts Against GNI, Others

June 24, 2025
How Property Fraud and Broken Systems Are Failing Nigeria’s Diaspora Investors
Column

How Property Fraud and Broken Systems Are Failing Nigeria’s Diaspora Investors

June 23, 2025
2027: Tinubu Deserves Second term – Reps Member, GNI  
News

2027: Tinubu Deserves Second term – Reps Member, GNI  

June 23, 2025
Netherlands’ Return Of 119 Benin Artefacts Excites Oba Ewuare
News

Netherlands’ Return Of 119 Benin Artefacts Excites Oba Ewuare

June 22, 2025
Presidency Fires Back At Sule Lamido, Says Ex – Governor, Other SDP Leaders Betrayed June 12
News

Presidency Fires Back At Sule Lamido, Says Ex – Governor, Other SDP Leaders Betrayed June 12

June 22, 2025
The Daily Crucible

The Daily Crucible Newspaper is an authoritative and independent online news medium established to deliver professional journalism for the purpose of fostering Nigeria's unity, peace, progress, and greatness, given the heterogeneity of its citizens.

© 2022 The Daily Crucible - Designed by CYBERWARRIOR.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Property
  • Business
  • Education
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • About Us

© 2022 The Daily Crucible - Designed by CYBERWARRIOR.