Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for caution as the Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission exchange words over the supply of crude to the refinery.
Atiku, in a post on its X handle on Saturday said the nurturing and development of the 650,000-capacity refinery should be a primary focus.
“Each parent eagerly awaiting the arrival of a child will dutifully undertake the necessary measures to ensure that the nurturing and development of this precious blessing remain a primary focus,” he stated.
The politician maintained that this fundamental principle applied equally to investments, whether they were local or international in nature.
“With this understanding, I am cautious in considering any deliberate attempts to impede the progress of the Dangote Refinery, a significant private sector project positioned to meet our energy and forex needs.
“Alongside numerous fellow citizens of goodwill, I call upon all Nigerians to take resolute actions to provide reassurance that both internal and external forces are not collaborating to prevent us from reaping the benefits promised by this eagerly anticipated transformative endeavour,” he submitted.
Recall that the crude crisis rocking the Dangote oil refinery took a new twist on Friday.
The Dangote Group had on Thursday accused the NUPRC of failing to effectively enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligations, saying it is yet to get enough crude locally.
Reacting, the NUPRC debunked the claim on Friday, stating that it facilitated the supply of over 29 million barrels of crude oil to Dangote from January to June 2024.
But in a swift response, the Dangote Refinery said it did not receive any 29mb of crude.
The commission, in a statement by its management on Friday, explained that as part of its commitment to ensure the enforcement of Section 109 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, nine refineries were supplied crude despite low crude oil production.
NUPRC noted that its strategic commitments to Nigeria’s energy security had led to the facilitation of the supply of 32 million barrels of crude to Dangote Refinery and other local producers in the first half of 2024.
