The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has stated that it is not in their place to protect a company, stating that they are regulators
The regulatory body stated this while replying to the claims by Aliko Dangote that they were demarketing a company that they should be protecting.
Recall that NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed claimed that Dangote’s diesel was inferior, as it has more sulphur content than the imported one.
He also said the refinery, which has been selling diesel and aviation fuel in Nigeria for months, had yet to have a licensed.
Reacting, Dangote lamented that it was disheartening that the regulators were not protecting the petroleum market in the country.
However, speaking during an interview with Punch on Sunday, George Ene-Ita got angry over the statement that the regulator was demarketing a company it should protect, wondering if Dangote wants the agency to bend the rules in his favour.
“Why should we protect any company? We are regulators, we don’t protect anybody; we regulate operators. If he says protect, it means we are shielding. It means that we should compromise the rules. We won’t do such, we regulate every company.
“And we don’t demarket, what does Dangote mean? You only demarket your competitors to gain an advantage. We are not competing with an operator. The word, ‘demarketing’, is only used when two competing brands are fighting. We are not an operator; we are a regulator. How can we demarket? Please, I take exception to that, on behalf of my organisation. We are not demarketing anybody. We are regulating every local refinery, including NNPC,” he clarified.
He said the agency would not engage in a media fight with anybody over the claims made by the NMDPRA Chief Executive.
“We are not fighting anybody. Dangote refinery is the same as an indigenous local refinery. We are regulators, we don’t fight in the media.