The Engr Farouk Ahmed led Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority NMDPRA had pioneered many activities of the new agency in the last three years , from the pioneer Chief Executive Officer of the new oil and gas regulatory agency in Nigeria created about three years ago, and towards ensuring the commencement of the local refining of petroleum products refining powered by the private sector, the Dangote Refinery.
With moribund government refineries across the north and south- south of the country spread for over two decades, the activities of the regulatory agency under Farouk Ahmed became crucial not only to the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, but trickled down to other sectors.
Since the unbundling of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources DPR by the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021 , that led to the creation of two agencies from the exercise which brought on board the establishment of Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NUPRC, and Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority NMDPRA, the administrative disposition of the experienced leadership under Farouk Ahmed had been uniquely designed to improve the sector.
Engr Farouk who climbed to the top echelon of NMDPRA after over three decades of experiences in the public sector ensured the new agency was not inundated with succession crises and change of nomenclature, but carried out its statutory functions in line with its mandates.
The new leadership also ensured the importation of petroleum products and sales across the country was laced with transparency and accountability particularly to arrest the usual sharp practices characteristics of oil and gas industry and the sales of its products to Nigerians .
The authority rejigged it’s supervisory roles across the country that consisted of states and zonal offices to ensure products availability and sales at the approved pump prices, as against the wishes and activities of black marketers.
The importation of fuel was no longer business as usual as government policy was bent on capability, capacity and experiences in all areas to avoid the pitfalls of the past .
He ensured the completion of the first local refinery owned by Dangote group that will reduce to the barest minimum the importation of already refined petroleum products been witnessed in the last 25 years.
Aside , playing the regulatory roles , he ensured a synergy between locally refined products commenced by Dangote Refinery and the continuous importation of the products to complement the new refinery and to avoid obvious gap and lapses in the distribution and supply chain of petroleum products across the country.
With the capacity of providing 35 Million liters for local consumption daily , the inception of Dangote Refinery will triple to 100 Million per day capable of resolving the incessant fuel scarcity across the country.
Having had the opportunity of heading the commencement of a new agency and overseeing local refining in the country aside modular refineries, no doubt the indepth experience and leadership acumen displayed by Engr Farouk Ahmed in the last three years was an indicator that some public officers in the public service still believed strongly in rendering selfless services.
The need to sustain the tempo through government supports and avoid detractors is to continue to create an enabling environment through government policies that will further drive the activities of the local refining company side by side efforts of government to bring back the other moribund public refineries belonging to the government.
Already government efforts is already paying off with the privatisation of Kaduna and Warri Refineries and the preparation to resume production at the Port Harcourt Refinery before the end of the year.
With the administrative wizardry of the current leadership under Engr Farouk Ahmed, no doubt the idea of importation of refined products will become a thing of the past in Nigeria.
*ABUBAKAR YUSUF writes from Abuja,he can be reached on [email protected].
