Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, called for an independent audit of why the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited capped its investment in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery at 7.2 per cent instead of the planned 20 per cent.
This call came following the denial by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, of owning a blending plant outside Nigeria on Tuesday.
Ezekwesili, reacting through her official X (Former twitter) handle, expressed her concern about the controversies surrounding the Dangote refinery-NNPC saga, noting that it was clear that something murky had occurred and needed to be fully investigated for public accountability.
“However, as more and more information filtered out from both parties, we can reasonably conclude that something seriously murky has gone on and needs to be fully unravelled for public accountability. And urgently, too,” How can a project that by all definition attained the stature of a ‘national interest project’ be marred in this depth of embarrassing controversy that is playing out in the full glare of the local and international investing community? She further stated “Did the Nigerian government not tell us it borrowed $3.3bn from Afriexim-Bank to take a stake in the Dangote refinery?”
She highlighted the need for transparency considering the government’s involvement in the Dangote refinery project and called for an independent audit to reveal the true state of affairs, urging President Bola Tinubu to use the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency International to initiate the process.
This call for accountability and transparency has arisen amidst the revelation by the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, that the NNPC’s investment in his refinery stood at 7.2 per cent, not 20 per cent as previously speculated. NNPC confirmed this, stating its decision not to further invest in the refinery.
Also, NNPC’s boss, Mele Kyari, denied owning a blending plant outside Nigeria, refuting claims made by Dangote. He stated that, other than a local mini-agric venture, he did not own or operate any business directly or by proxy anywhere in the world.
Similarly, he stated that he was not aware of any NNPC employee who owned or operated a blending plant in Malta or anywhere else in the world.
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