The House of Representatives Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources has invited Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to address disagreements that could affect the downstream petroleum sector.
Chairman of the committee, Ikenga Ugochinyere, disclosed this after an emergency meeting held in Abuja on Monday.
He said rising tensions between the parties could undermine recent efforts to stabilise supply, pricing and regulation in Nigeria’s post subsidy petroleum environment.
“The key issue is the renewed tension arising from concerns and allegations raised by Alhaji Aliko Dangote against the NMDPRA.
“We are guarding hard won stability; sustainable solutions require identifying critical issues, hence our invitation to Dangote and the NMDPRA leadership,” Ugochinyere said.
He explained that petitions received by the committee relate to the issuance of import licences and questions over whether domestic refineries can meet Nigeria’s daily petroleum demand.
According to him, all unresolved issues will be examined when representatives of the refinery and the regulatory authority appear before the committee.
The invitation follows recent allegations by the president and chief executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, against the chief executive officer of the NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed.
Dangote accused the regulator of actions he said were undermining domestic refining, including continued issuance of import licences for petroleum products.
He also alleged that Ahmed spent millions of dollars on the foreign education of his children, raising questions about the source of the funds.
In response to the public exchanges, the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Petroleum Resources, Downstream and Midstream, had earlier summoned both parties and directed them to halt public accusations.
The committees said the intervention was aimed at preventing an escalation capable of destabilising the downstream petroleum sector, which they noted had only recently begun to record relative stability.
