• Refinery made indigenous engineers expatriates in UAE – Devakumar
• Withdraws N100b suit against NNPCL, NMDPRA, others
The Federal Government has commended Dangote Petroleum Refinery for its exceptional engineering milestones and robust investment in building the capacity of young Nigerian professionals.
Vice President, Oil & Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Edwin Devakumar, disclosed that many of the trained engineers and technicians now work abroad, contributing to Nigeria’s foreign remittances from countries across Africa and as far as the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Meanwhile, Dangote Refinery has withdrawn its lawsuit against the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and five other petroleum companies. The case, filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, was formally withdrawn by the plaintiff’s legal team.
Giving the commendation on the refinery during an official visit to the facility in Lagos, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, described the project as a model of industrial excellence that combines world-class infrastructure with deliberate human capital development.
She expressed deep admiration for the scale and sophistication of the project, further describing it as “bricks, mortar and pipelines of extraordinary ambition”.
The commitment to empowering young Nigerians operating the facility is equally inspiring, she added.
“It is deeply inspiring to see young Nigerians, many of whom have never left the country, operating world-class equipment with remarkable skill and professionalism,” she said.
She further praised the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, for his unwavering dedication to Nigeria’s industrial transformation.
Devakumar, who received the minister, presented the operational scope and capabilities of the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery. He noted that the plant produces Euro-V quality petrol, diesel, jet fuel and polypropylene, and is designed to meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic demand for refined petroleum products, with excess for export.
According to him, the refinery utilises the latest technologies to ensure environmental sustainability while delivering high-quality fuels, and incorporates a fully self-sufficient marine terminal, as well as a 435MW integrated steam and power generation system, enough to power the entire Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company franchise area.
Also, the League of Engineering Bodies in Nigeria, including the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE), Association of Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN), and Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) applauded the active engagement of Nigerian professionals in the execution and operation of the plants.
According to a notice of discontinuance filed before the Abuja court, Dangote resolved to end the proceedings against all seven defendants, including AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited.
In the notice, no official reason was given for its decision to discontinue the case.
Details of the decision, including the reliefs sought and whether an out-of-court settlement was reached, remain unclear.
In the suit, Dangote Refinery had requested the court to award N100 billion in damages against NMDPRA for issuing import licences to some marketers and allowing the importation of petroleum products.
