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.