The controversy over the “fitness” of products of the nascent Dangote Refinery has become for some an opportunity to engage in needless witch-hunting and pursuit of selfish interests in our oil industry.

The questionable utterances of the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulation Authority, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, that products of the Refinery were inferior to imported ones, shocked many Nigerians.

It prompted instant response from the House of Representatives, whose Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, dispatched its Special Joint Committee led by Ikenga Ugochinyere, to investigate the issue.

After visiting the Refinery, the Committee, while certifying that its products were among the best in the world, called for the sack of Ahmed and the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mele Kyari, even when a scheduled forensic probe was yet to be carried out.

About 15 members of the House of Representatives allegedly signed a statement calling for Kyari’s removal, but many of the supposed signatories dissociated themselves from the call, saying it was the personal opinion of some members with Ugochinyere as the ring leader.

It is gratifying to note that Speaker Abbas has promised to set up another Ad Hoc Committee. It is obvious that the media confusion that followed the Ugochinyere committee’s activities disqualified it as an impartial body capable of achieving the desired objective.

How can a committee chairman call for the sack of an official when no evidence has been adduced that he committed any offence? What is the connection between Farouk Ahmed’s utterances and this call?

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who doubles as the Petroleum Resources Minister, assumed office he made a number of appointments and chose to retain Mele Kyari as the leader of the oil industry because of the latter’s track records.

Kyari is a thoroughbred of the defunct NNPC, who emerged as its GMD on July 7, 2019. He championed the final phases that led to the signing of the historic Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, in August 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, and fronted the reforms that transformed the Corporation into a limited liability company.

Under his watch, the NNPCL had its account audited for the first time in its history and announced its highest profit in 45 years of N2.548 trillion in 2022. In August 2022, it was reported that Nigeria only produced 800,000bpd of crude oil. The figure which jumped to 1.6 million bpd in March 2024 has further climbed to 1.7 million bpd because of the relentless battle against oil thieves.

Nigeria is making steady progress under Mele Kyari’s leadership of the NNPCL. What we need is for him to ensure that President Tinubu’s directive to supply all refineries with crude is implemented immediately to fully restore Nigeria’s refining self-reliance.

Enough of distractions.