The CEO of Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu, Matrix Energy Group, and a member of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, has been linked to significant petrol imports from Malta and Russia.
Recently, Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, raised concerns about some Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited personnel, oil traders, and terminals operating a blending plant in Malta.
A blending plant, unlike a refinery, can mix re-refined oil (used motor oil treated to remove impurities) with additives to create finished lubricant products.
The billionaire hinted that the locations of these blending plants are known.
“Some of the terminals, some NNPC staff, and some traders have established a blending plant near Malta,” the chairman stated. “We are aware of these locations and their activities.”
In 2023, Nigeria’s petroleum imports from Malta dramatically increased to $2.8 billion, compared to zero between 2017 and 2022, and only $13.32 million in 2016.
Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPCL, promptly dismissed Dangote’s claims, asserting that he had no involvement in any plant in Malta.
However, new findings have now identified one of the largest importers using the small European country: Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu, owner of Matrix Energy and a member of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC).
In an interview, Aliu strongly denied any wrongdoing in his business dealings and promised a full response to the media’s inquiries.
In July 2024 alone, over 200,000 tonnes of petrol from Malta were unloaded at the Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta state, according to a confidential source who provided documents.
“This accounts for about 25 percent of Nigeria’s monthly PMS consumption, managed by a relatively small player with only 150 retail stations,” the source revealed.
The insider further alleged that Aliu leverages close relationships with the top management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) to obtain crude oil cargoes for his company.
“Crude cargoes are allocated to Matrix Energy by the NNPC monthly at their discretion,” said a source familiar with the company’s operations.
These crude allocations are traded by Gulf Transport & Trading (GTT), a trading company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the insider.
“Two of the three crude cargoes of the recently launched Utapate grade were allocated to GTT,” the source noted. “These crude cargoes typically sell at a $3 per barrel premium, translating to $3 million per cargo with minimal effort. This amounts to nearly $150 million annually or N240 billion, at N1,600/$.”
On August 5, NNPC introduced the Utapate crude oil blend into the international market. The new grade comes from oil mining lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), an NNPC subsidiary.
Matrix Energy, which owns three aging ships (Matrix Pride, Matrix Triumph, and Matrix S.ILU), reportedly loads diesel products exported from Russia in Lome, Togo.
It’s understood that the diesel from Russia is often off-spec and typically corrected in locations like Lome and Malta by blending with other components.
However, on June 16, around 15,000 tonnes of diesel — loaded on May 26 from Novorossiysk, Russia, and transported by the vessel MT Kallos — were reportedly transferred into Matrix Triumph offshore Lome without corrections and discharged into the Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta state, Nigeria, on June 21.
On June 19, another 15,000 tonnes were transferred into Matrix Pride and then discharged into the Obat Oil terminal on June 22.
The products from Malta were shipped via intermediary vessels and sometimes through intermediary companies like Poly Pro Trading, registered in the Dubai Free Trade Zone.
Checks revealed that their listed office at OneJLT Towers 05.015, Dubai, is merely a business center without any physical presence.
“Malta has become the top European hub for blending and ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products since the Greek navy ceased such activities in their offshore zone,” the source stated.
“Approximately 35 percent of shipments to Malta consist of naphtha and other components, blended into gasoline to create lower-quality ‘African Spec’. This inferior quality spec is then transshipped onto various vessels for delivery to Nigeria, where it is sold to the unsuspecting public, who suffer frequent vehicle and equipment breakdowns.”
