The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Tuesday, denied claims that it already gave a license to Alhaji Aliko Dangote, owner of the Dangote refinery to import the Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol pending completion of his refinery
The company stated that it is not within its jurisdiction to
grant a license or permit for fuel import.
According to the report, published in a national daily, the
writer alleged that the imported fuel would be discharged at the Dangote barge
and pumped into tanks to be sold at a market-dictated price to marketers while
work progresses at the refinery.
But reacting to the report, the media relations manager at
the NNPCL, Onyi Sunday who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune over the phone,
described the report as misleading stating that the company was not a
regulatory organization.
Her words:” The report is misleading. We don’t grant
licenses or permits because we are not a regulatory organization. The
responsibility lies with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum
Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), not NNPCL. You should check with them. NNPCL has
just a small stake of 20 per cent in the refinery.”
However, efforts to reach the NMDPRA Spokesperson, Mr.
Kimchi Apollo failed as his phone line was off at the time of filing this
report.