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By Junaid Abdullahi
Nigeria’s House of Representatives has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed pending the conclusion of the investigation of his comments regarding the status of Dangote refined petroleum products.
The call comes after the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Esosa Iyawe following the House’s address of the impasse between Dangote Refinery and the Authority.
According to Iyawe, the fuel quality can impact engine hardware, thus ultra-low sulfur diesel is recommended for all types of companies, power plants, storage tanks, industrial facilities, fleets and heavy equipment, and even ships, as high Sulphur content in fuels, causes damage to engines and contributes to air pollution.
The Edo lawmaker said sulphur dioxide also has dire environmental and health consequences, as it can damage the human respiratory system, compromise lung function and even cause cancer.
“The unguarded statements by the Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, which has since been disproved, sparked an outrage from Nigerians who tagged his 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.”
This comes after the House Committee on Midstream and Downstream on Monday commenced an investigation into the dispute between Ahmed and the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote.
Recalled that in the past four days, Ahmed’s statement that Dangote Refinery’s petroleum products were inferior had sparked a wide range of allegations and counter-allegations from both parties
