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The House of Representatives has urged President Ahmed Tinubu to suspend Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority (NMDPRA), due to his unguarded remarks about the high sulphur content in diesel produced at the Dangote Refinery.
The suspension is recommended, pending a thorough and fair investigation by the House, to ensure justice is served.
This call was made after the lower chamber adopted a motion of urgent public importance introduced by Representative Esosa Iyawe during Tuesday's plenary session.
In presenting the motion, Iyawe recalled that the NMDPRA head recently claimed that the diesel from the Dangote Refinery was inferior to imported diesel, citing sulphur content levels between 650 and 1,200 ppm.
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He said, "In their defence, Dangote called for a test of their products, which was supervised by members of the House of Representatives, wherein it was revealed that Dangote's diesel had a sulphur content of 87.6 ppm (parts per million), whereas the other two samples diesel imported showed sulphur levels exceeding 1800 pm and 2000 pm respectively, thus disproving the allegations made by the NMDPRA boss.
"Allegations have been made that the NMDPRA was giving licences to some traders who regularly import high-sulphur content diesel into Nigeria, and the use of such products poses grave health risks and huge financial losses for Nigerians.
Issues of substandard fuel
"The unguarded statements by the Chief Executive Officer of the MDPRA, which has since been disproved, sparked an outrage from Nigerians who tagged his action as undermining of local refineries and insistence on the continued importation of fuel an act of economic sabotage, as the imported products have been shown to contain high levels of dangerous compounds.
"The careless statement by the Chief Executive of the NMDPRA without conducting any prior investigation is not only unprofessional but also unpatriotic, especially in the face of the recent calls for protest against the federal government."
Iyawe stated that fuel quality could affect engine hardware, emphasising that ultra-low sulfur diesel is recommended for various industries, including companies, power plants, storage tanks, industrial facilities, ships, fleets, and heavy equipment.
He added that fuels with high sulfur content can damage engines and contribute to air pollution.
The House Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources initiated an investigation into the issue on Monday.
They pledged to invite Dangote Refinery, other refiners, and stakeholders in the petroleum industry for discussions and to take appropriate actions.