Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), says his refinery has over N600 billion worth of premium motor spirit (PMS) in storage that can sufficiently meet Nigeria’s needs.

Dangote was responding to a statement by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) that local refineries contributed less than 50 percent of the country’s daily petrol needs between January and February.

On January 19, the NMDPRA said it continued to grant import licences to oil marketers to prevent a nationwide petrol scarcity as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery cannot meet the national daily petroleum products sufficiency requirement.

Dangote had countered the agency’s position in court, requesting the industry regulator to stop issuing fuel import licences.

Speaking over the weekend during a tour of the plant with a Zambian government delegation, the billionaire said his refinery has more than half a billion litres of petroleum products, worth over N600 billion, in its tanks.

“As we speak right now, we have more than half a billion litres,” Dangote said.

“The refinery is producing enough refined products, like gasoline (petrol), diesel, and kerosene, to meet 100 percent of Nigeria’s requirements.”

The businessman said the refinery, like other projects in the past, is not for Nigeria alone.

“This refinery is not only for Nigeria; it is for Africa. We must sustain the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) deal,” he added. 

“We are trying to see how we trade with other African countries.”

ZAMBIA SEEKS DANGOTE’S INVESTMENT IN ITS ENERGY SECTOR 

On his part, Makozo Chikote, Zambia’s energy minister who led a delegation, expressed satisfaction and readiness to work with the African manufacturing giant.

“In Zambia, we created an environment for the private sector to participate in the growth and development of our country,” the minister said.

“Currently, 100 percent of our petroleum is done by the private sector.

“We are targeting increased productivity in mining, agriculture, and other sectors. Your presentation is an immediate solution to our energy needs. 

“We are trying to promote competition among our private players.

“We are looking at Dangote coming on board, which would lead to efficient, reliable, quality, and competitive products, and we want these done like yesterday.

“Coming to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, we have learned so many advantages of bringing many players for competition, which has improved the lives of the citizens.”

Also speaking, Edwin Devakumar, the vice-president of Dangote Industries Limited, said the refinery produces the best quality products as its core business strategy.

“The project concept was to process the crude from Nigeria and add value. But we also wanted to provide some flexibility to process most of the African crudes and some of the Middle Eastern crudes,” Devakumar said.

“In another concept, what we did was maximum value extraction. That is a process where every barrel of crude which goes in, the value addition should be the best.”

The vice-president said the refinery can meet all of Nigeria’s fuel requirements with just 44 percent of its production while 56 percent would be exported.

“Every day, we produce 104 million litres; 57 million litres of petrol every day; 20 million litres of jet fuel; and 27 million litres of diesel production,” he said.

Devakumar also said local consumption is around 46 million litres, while the remaining 58 million litres are exported daily.

[TheCable]

Nigerian rapper and activist Michael Stephens, popularly known as Ruggedman, has spoken about not being a husband or father yet.

The 51-year-old revealed that he vowed not to have a child out of wedlock when he was much younger, and has kept his word since then.

Ruggedman recently disclosed this while featuring on the TVC programme Your View.

He asserted that he is unmarried because he has been jilted a few times and is yet to meet the right person. In his words:

“I am not married and do not have a child yet. When I was much younger, I vowed never to have a child out of wedlock. Sometimes, I wonder whether I made the right or wrong decision. But still, it takes a lot from both parties. You have to do it with someone you really love.”

“I have met some ladies I thought I would end up with, but it didn’t work out. There was a particular lady I was supposed to marry, but a wealthy man came into the picture, and her mother separated us.”

In a 2021 interview, Ruggedman revealed that his mother and other family members were not pressuring him about marriage despite being over 40 years of age. He added that he would get married when he was ready.

Joseph Aloba, father of the late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, known as Mohbad, has broken his silence, fiercely challenged the claims made by his daughter-in-law, Omowunmi Aloba, in her recent tell-all interview about his son’s tragic death.

Wunmi had earlier, in her emotionally charged interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, shared unsettling claims about the events leading to her husband’s death.

She averred that a nurse had administered an injection that triggered a severe reaction in Mohbad. Wunmi alleged that Joseph Aloba was present on Mohbad’s final day, and that he thwarted attempts by her husband’s manager to have the nurse arrested, insisted on letting the nurse go after noticing the harm caused by the injection.

In a phone conversation with blogger Bukky Jesse, Mohbad’s father minced no words as he tore into Wunmi’s narrative.

According to him, he never once set eyes on the nurse whom Wunmi alleged played a role in Mohbad’s death. He painted a stark picture of exclusion, revealed how Wunmi, along with his estranged wife, Bose, and his younger son, Adura, orchestrated a wall of silence around him throughout Mohbad’s crisis, shut him out completely until the bitter end.

He disclosed that he and Wunmi had not been on speaking terms for a long time, even before Mohbad’s passing. The only interaction since his son’s death, he said, was a phone call filled with curses hurled at him by Wunmi.

Mohbad’s dad added that, aside from that turbulent call, the only person from Wunmi’s family he had spoken with in recent weeks was her father.