Southeast youth groups drum support for Dangote Refinery, urge Tinubu to sack Farouk Ahmed

By Ifeizu Joe

Youth based civil society groups in the Southeast, have called for support for chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote as his refinery, Dangote Refinery continues its disagreement with the Nigerian Midstream And Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The coalition of youth groups, led by South-east Youth Vanguard For Good Governance (SEYVGG) in a press conference in Awka on Monday called for the sack of the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Ahmed Farouk, alleging sabotage of Dangote Refinery.

The national coordinator of the group, Comrade Chuks Obele during the press conference insisted that Dangote Refinery should be protected and not attacked, saying there was need to feed the refinery with crude oil to ensure that it functioned optimally.

Part of the text distributed by the group read: “The crisis of fuel scarcity has raised serious questions about the transparency in the management of the local oil production by the midstream and downstream petroleum regulation authority.

“This has led to a significant increase in the cost of transportation, affecting livelihoods of Nigerians, particularly those in low-income brackets.

“It is unacceptable that the so-called largest oil producer and exporter on the continent has continued to grapple with fuel scarcity due to a combination of factors, including inadequate refinery capacity, continuous pipeline vandalism, inadequate infrastructure, grand and administrative corruption.

“These challenges have persisted for decades, and one expects that the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will address the perennial crisis.

“The open sabotage of local oil production in Nigeria by Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulation Authority, Mr. Farouk Ahmed must not go unpunished.”

The group said Farouk and others who have sabotaged the nations oil sector should be investigated and punished to serve as deterrent to other. They also decried the brazen attack on Dangote who they described as a global icon.

“Revelation shows that there is an abuse of administrative office to extract illegal benefits in exchange for approval covering a wide range of commercial and operational activities.

“It is therefore suggested that Mr. Farouk Ahmed and all culprits in any form in the midstream and downstream petroleum regulation authority should immediately be investigated, dismissed and if found guilty imprisoned.

“You can imagine the criminal and immoral audacity with which this man attacked the globally celebrated efforts of Dangote Group in building one of the best refineries in the world.

“He shamefully could not contain his averseness and unpatriotic opposition to an era of local refining. He saw the compelling need and therefore shamefully took it upon himself to de-market the products of Dangote Refinery.

“South-East Youth Vanguard For Good Governance and indeed Nigerians of goodwill are for once united against the CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and our demand is that he must be investigated.

“If not, the proposed national protests which some of us have been working so hard to stop may actually start from there. We cannot be a country in which an open evil will triumph over good,” the group said.