Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has alleged that some employees of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and oil traders are operating a blending plant in Malta, an island country in Europe.

Dangote made this claim over the weekend when he received the leadership of the House, led by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and his deputy, Benjamin Kalu. He asserted that the quality of products produced at the Dangote Refinery was significantly better than those imported by marketers.

“The bad fuel imported into the country has damaged many cars. I still stand by what I said. Go to filling stations, you can check the quality. That is the only way,” Dangote stated. “We know where they blend these things. Some NNPC personnel and some traders have opened a blending plant somewhere off Malta. We all know these areas. We know what they are doing.”

Dangote also refuted claims that his group of companies enjoys a monopoly. “If you look at all our operations at Dangote Group, we add value; we take local raw materials and turn them into products, and we sell. We have never consciously or unconsciously stopped anybody from doing the same business that we are doing.

“When we first entered cement production, it was only Lafarge operating here in Nigeria. Nobody ever called Lafarge a monopoly,” he said, adding that labelling his group of companies as monopolistic is disheartening. “Monopoly is when you stop people, you block them through legal means. No, it is a level playing field whereby whatever Dangote was given in cement, for example, others were given the same opportunities, with some even receiving more than us.”