Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has accused Dangote Refinery of sponsoring media attacks against the rehabilitated Port Harcourt Refinery.
In a veiled reference to the billionaire, Fani-Kayode claimed on his X post on Thursday, that the private sector elements new to the oil business are trying to undermine the achievement of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd in resurrecting the Port Harcourt refinery.
According to Fani-Kayode, the rehabilitation of the refinery is a significant victory for Nigeria, and credit should go to the President and the NNPC’s Managing Director, Mele Kyari.
While saying that oil business is different from other commodities, Fani-Kayode noted that “no matter how hard you (Dangote) try, you cannot muscle your way and create a monopoly on the sale of refined products as you did for other commodities over the years.”
He urged Nigerians to support both the NNPC refineries and the new private sector players, promoting healthy competition and progress for Nigeria.
In his words: “The resurrection of the Port Harcourt refinery is one of the most encouraging things that has happened in the petroleum sector for many years and the credit for this must go to the President and the Group Managing Director of the NNPC Ltd.
“It is a pity that some elements in the private sector, who are new in the field, are doing all they can to undermine and understate this great victory for Nigeria.
“The oil business is not the same as selling sugar, spaghetti, cement, or rice.
“NNPC will go from strength to strength, and once its other refineries are working as well, Nigerians will have cause to smile again. Let the new kid on the block flourish, but let the NNPC refineries flourish, too. That should be our goal and not a squalid attempt to discredit NNPC and its leadership.
“Every optimistic and true lover of Nigeria’s progress and President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda must be proud of the GMD Mele Kyari. His tenacity, bravery, ingenuity, and forthrightness have been rewarded with this great feat. Surely, this is hope renewed for Nigerians.”
Industry analysts and watchers have argued that Dangote Refinery does not want any other refinery to come on stream so that it could enjoy the benefit of massive crude feed stock.
A source close to the development explained that Dangote Refinery could diversify its feed stock sources instead of its bid to grab all the available being supplied to the refineries by the NNPC Ltd, explaining that the US does produces 13.5m litres of PMS on a daily basis.
Some local players in the refining subsector of the oil and gas sector of the economy had been working round the clock to ensure that government-owned refineries in Nigeria did not work so that they could maximize the situation to their advantage.
There has, however, been excitement in the Presidency and other quarters over the breaking of the age-long jinx that had bedeviled the government refineries, when on Tuesday, this week, the old Port Harcourt Refinery commenced production.