MORE facts have emerged on the identities of companies and individuals behind the importation of substandard petroleum products from Malta, with Sayyu Dantata, the half-brother of the president of Dangote Group Aliko Dangote as one of the importers.
In July, Dangote alleged that some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited and oil traders have blending plants in Malta, where they produce and import off-spec petroleum products that are brought to Nigeria for consumption.
Dangote made the revelation while reacting to the claim by the managing director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Ahmed Farouk, that products from the Dangote refinery are inferior to imported ones.
“Even at 650,000 bpm and 700,000 bpm, that we are producing was a better quality than what was imported. And I am sure most of you will have problems with your vehicle because of the bad fuel that were imported into the country, I still stand by what I said.
“Go to filling station, you can pick it up and check the quality. That is only way. But all these one somebody will bring in ship, bring in fake certificates. Some NNPC people, some traders have opened a blending plant somewhere in Malta. We all know these areas, we know what they are doing,” Mr Dangote said.
Meanwhile, documents obtained by this newspaper revealed that MRS Oil and Gas is one of the oil companies importing fuel from Malta.
This newspaper gathered that Mr Dangote’s half-brother — Sayyu Dantata — is the founder and chief executive officer of MRS Oil and Gas.
Other directors of MRS include, Aisha Dantata, Abdu Dantata, Patrice Alberti, GMD, Amina Maina, GCOO, and Mohammed Dantata.
According to some of the documents obtained by our correspondent, the company imported fuel into Nigeria in February 2024 through the vessel MT AETHER.
In separate letters dated March 4 and addressed to the authority chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, and the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, the oil firm confirmed that it had purchased 91,219.232 Mt Vac of unleaded gasoline 91 Ron from PETROCAM DMCC.
The letter, which was signed by the general manager of risk management, Moyosola Kuku, said the product was loaded at the port of OPL MALTA, onto vessel MT AETHER.
“We hereby confirm that MRS Oil and Gas Co. Ltd. purchased 91,219.232 Mt Vac of unleaded gasoline 91 Ron from PETROCAM DMCC, was loaded at the port of OPL Malta onto vessel MT AETHER with bill of lading dated 19/02/2024 as evidenced by the following documents attached, bill of lading, cargo manifest, certificate of origin, and certificate of quantity.
“In line with the February 2024 spot gasoline supply contract, we subsequently sold full cargo on board MT AETHER [91.219.232 MTV] to NNPC for delivery offshore Lagos.
“We remain at your disposal for any further information you might require,” the letter reads.
In another letter sent to the Managing Director of NNPC Trading Limited, and dated March 4, MRS Oil and Gas confirmed the sale of full cargo on board MT AETHER [91,219.232 MTV] with bill of lading dated 19/02/2024 to NNPC for delivery offshore Lagos.
The letter titled, “Confirmation of Sale of Cargo to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation”, reads, We MRS Oil and Gas Co. Ltd., hereby confirm that we sold full cargo on board MT AETHER (91,219.232 MTV) with bill of lading dated 19/02/2024 to NNPC for delivery offshore Lagos.
“We remain at your disposal for any further information you might require.
Attempts to get the reaction of the company were unsuccessful, as the phone numbers on the company’s website were not connecting, and the text message sent to the line is yet to be responded to as at the time of filing this report.
DAILY NIGERIAN