Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, yesterday hosted a crucial meeting with Dangote and officials of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to resolve recent disputes between the two parties.

According to a statement from the minister’s spokesperson, Amaka Okafor, the meeting included leadership from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Although the statement did not provide specifics, the disagreement between NMDPRA’s chief executive, Farouk Ahmed, and Aliko Dangote had recently garnered public attention. The dispute centred on the quality of products from Dangote’s $19 billion, 650,000 barrels per day refinery, which Ahmed’s NMDPRA alleged were producing fuels with high sulphur content.

Ahmed maintained that products from the facility, including diesel and jet fuel, were of lower quality than those imported by NNPCL and claimed that Dangote’s refinery had not been fully licensed to operate, stating that it could not be solely relied upon to meet the nation’s fuel needs.

Ahmed said, “The Dangote refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licensed yet. I think they’re about 45 per cent complete. We cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation, as Dangote is requesting that we stop all importation of diesel and jet fuel and direct all marketers to the refinery.”

However, during a tour of the facility in Lagos, Dangote countered these claims, stating that his products were of higher quality than imported fuels. He questioned the quality of the laboratories used by NMDPRA to test fuel standards and demonstrated this by testing diesel samples in his own labs.

Dangote admitted that initial production was between 600ppm and 650ppm but stressed that current production is less than 87ppm, with a target of 10ppm next month, compared to over 1,800ppm and 2,600ppm from other tested samples.

The ministry’s statement noted that Lokpobiri convened the meeting to resolve the ongoing issues with Dangote refinery, with all parties showing a commitment to collaborative problem-solving.

“The stakeholders expressed gratitude to the minister for his leadership and timely intervention. The meeting focused on finding a sustainable solution to the impasse, with all parties demonstrating a commitment to collaborative and proactive problem-solving,” the statement said.

“The minister emphasised the importance of cooperation and synergy among stakeholders to ensure the success and optimal performance of the oil and gas sector, crucial for Nigeria’s economic growth and energy security.”

Senate President Godswill Akpabio also assured Nigerians that the senate would investigate the challenges in the petroleum sector and hold those responsible for any malpractices accountable. Akpabio set up an ad hoc committee with a clear mandate to investigate the issues, stressing that it was more than a financial concern but a matter of national security.

Akpabio lamented the non-domestication of the Child Rights Act, stating it remained a significant hurdle to the welfare of women and children in Nigeria.

Similarly, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) called on President Bola Tinubu to sack the CEO of NMDPRA, arguing that the agency had lost its ethical and neutral authority due to a perceived preference for fuel importation.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, criticised the NMDPRA chief for his public stance against Dangote refinery, suggesting that this undermined confidence in the agency’s neutrality and effectiveness.