Details have emerged over the weekend on how two Lagos-bound vessels linked to family members and friends of Dangote Refinery CEO Aliko Dangote are on course to deliver cargoes of imported premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from Malta.
Politics Nigeria, an Abuja based online Newspaper reports that this development is coming weeks after Dangote’s shocking now-debunked allegations blaming others about the importation of low-quality fuel from the European country.
Recall that the billionaire businessman had earlier accused Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of sabotaging his refinery, saying that some NNPCL officials were importing substandard petrol products into the country from a blending facility in Malta, a claim which was later proven to be false and malicious.
Meanwhile, investigation conducted by the newspaper has revealed that a number of Dangote’s family members and circle of friends in the petroleum sector might be among the top importers of PMS from Malta.
According to a maritime data corroborated by industry experts, at least two other cargoes connected to his family member and an associate are expected to arrive on the shores of Nigeria on September 7.
The data shows that one of the vessels ferrying the cargo, Meronas, belongs to MRS Oil & Gas Company, a subsidiary of MRS Holdings Limited owned by Dangote’s half-brother, Sayyu Dantata.
It was learnt that the vessel currently sailing under the flag of Greece, departed Malta on August 22 and is scheduled to arrive Lagos on September 7.
Another Oil tanker vessel from Malta, Clean Justice will be delivering a cargo of PMS to Eyrie Energy, an Abuja-based company founded by a board director at MRS, Amina Maina.
Checks are still ongoing as to whether Dangote is aware of his half-brother company’s involvement in Malta importation, an industry source told that it is ‘hypocritical’ for the billionaire to “shield his own” while pretending to expose others.
A source in the Oil industry, in his reaction to this development, stated that “Dangote’s concerns about the integrity of fuel imports from Malta, which has been debunked, coupled with the involvement of his close associates and family members in similar operations, casts an uncanny light on the cutthroat operations of the oil industry.”
“Dangote knows that refiners margin is currently low and he won’t be able to sell and compete with other suppliers to NNPCL, he needs to control who sells to NNPC and also control the price they sell to NNPC.
Another Industry Expert, Dr. James Oyekunle, speaking on the development, wondered if there was more to this entire issue as he observed that there could be a political undertone.
“It is difficult to ignore as most of the companies targeted have mostly been owned or operated by southerners or affiliated with international companies whilst key marketers from the north seem to be missing from these negative attacks.”
