Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has called for an independent audit to investigate why the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) capped its investment in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery at 7.2% instead of the planned 20%.
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This call came as NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, denied owning a blending plant outside Nigeria amid ongoing controversies surrounding the Dangote refinery.
Ezekwesili, speaking through her official X handle, emphasized the need for transparency and accountability in the Dangote refinery-NNPC saga.
She expressed concerns over the murky details emerging from both parties and urged for a full investigation.
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“How can a project that by all definitions attained the stature of a ‘national interest project’ be marred in this depth of embarrassing controversy that is playing out in the full glare of the local and international investing community?” Ezekwesili questioned.
She recalled that the Nigerian government had previously announced borrowing $3.3 billion from Afriexim-Bank to acquire a stake in the Dangote refinery.
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Ezekwesili also highlighted the long-standing opacity of the NNPC, which led to the establishment of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) during her tenure as Minister of Education.
She urged President Bola Tinubu to use NEITI to launch an independent audit of the Dangote refinery-NNPC transaction to provide clarity to the public.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, recently revealed that NNPC’s investment in his refinery was only 7.2%, not the speculated 20%.
Dangote explained that although an agreement for 20% was made, NNPC did not pay the balance, leading to their reduced stake.
In a related development, Mele Kyari denied allegations that he owns a blending plant outside Nigeria.
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These allegations arose from Dangote’s claim that some NNPC officials own blending plants in Malta, which Dangote suggested were undermining the local production of petroleum products.
Kyari clarified on his X handle that he does not own or operate any business outside Nigeria, except for a local mini-agric venture.
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He also stated he is unaware of any NNPC employees owning such blending plants.
Kyari assured the public that any NNPC official found to be involved in such activities would face sanctions.
The controversy deepened following allegations by the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, who claimed that diesel produced by the Dangote refinery had higher sulphur content than imported.
