•Says poor standard lube oils damaging engines 

•Manufacturers want local production encouraged

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) yesterday moved to streamline engine lubricants imported into the country as well as those produced locally, stressing that aside damaging machinery, they remain a threat to national productivity.

Speaking in Abuja during a session with independent lubricant producers, major energy marketing companies, industrial lubricant consumers, importers of the commodity, among others, the Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, also announced the roll-out of  a lubricant importation module on the lube oil portal.

Represented by the Executive Director of Hydrocarbon Processing Plants, Installations & Transportation Infrastructure (HPPITI), Francis Ogaree, Ahmed stressed that the regulatory framework will be deployed to set a standardisation for compliance in lubricants, both local and imported ones.

Ahmed stated that it was a significant step towards building a more transparent, efficient, and quality-driven lubricant importation process, one that reflects the shared vision of a more resilient and self-sufficient petroleum industry in Nigeria.

He argued that under the current administration, Nigeria must begin to do things right, recalling that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) expressly mandates the NMDPRA to ensure that all petroleum products, including lubricants, meet strict quality and safety standards.

“We take this responsibility in NMDPRA seriously as poor quality lubricants do more than damage engines, they damage trust. They damage and hurt our productivity, and create unnecessary economic waste.

“It’s not business as usual anymore and that’s why this workshop is there for us to do things right in conformity with what they do elsewhere, “ Ahmed added.

According to him, with the collaboration of all the parties, including the Nigeria customs and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country can replicate the same and surpass global standards in terms of the quality of lubes.

“This digital platform is integrated with the Nigerian Customs Service, ensuring seamless import clearance, real-time data tracking, and improved compliance enforcement. For importers, this means faster approvals, better transparency, and clearer expectations.

“For local producers, this enhanced oversight will help identify products that can and should be produced locally. So there’s a lead towards local production. And this is what we’re emphasising, local content, giving your business more room to grow in a level playing field. And for all industry players, it means improved accountability and shared responsibility for upholding the integrity of the Nigerian markets,” Ahmed said.

He added that the initiative is to ensure only high quality products circulate in the market, and aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s industrialisation agenda to reduce overreliance on imports and promote local capacity.

Earlier in her opening remarks, the Director of Liquids at the NMDPRA, Ngozi Nwankwo, noted that over the past decade, different applications had been deployed, which came with some challenges, including the use of substandard equipment, irregular documentation, and non-compliance.

She stressed that these issues eroded customers’ trust,  hindered local production, and exposed the Nigerian economy to significant risk, explaining that the meeting was to align, recalibrate, and reaffirm the rules of engagement in the vital segment of the industry.

Nwankwo stated that the Authority remains committed to the mandate granted to it by the PIA to ensure that all lubricants that enter into the market meet approved quality and safety standards, while adhering strictly to regulatory requirements.

“This mandate is not just about enforcing the law. It’s about safeguarding the integrity of our market, and also protecting the interests of all the stakeholders seated here. Today’s workshop is designed to achieve two objectives. The first one is to provide clarity on the compliance framework governing the lubricant importation into the country.

“And secondly, to deepen the stakeholders’ understanding of our digital portal, which has been designed to help in this process. The portal is a transformative tool that streamlines processes, and also ensures proper documentation and enhances regulatory oversight on our own part,” Nwankwo said.

In his intervention, Chairman of the Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria (LUPAN), Alhaji Ado Mustafa, noted that although the group was happy about the planned streamlining of lube oils, the association was against granting import permits for the finished lubricants into the Nigerian market.

“ This is because our members are producing below 50 per cent capacity of our industries today. We are producing 30 to 40 per cent. If we are allowed, and we are given support from the NMDPRA and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), I’m sure we can expand our capacity to produce above 50 per cent to 70 per cent,” he argued.

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