The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has made an offer to sell the Dangote Refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.(NNPLC).
Dangote who said this during an exclusive interview with Premium Times on Sunday, expressed his willingness to sell the refinery to address allegations of monopoly in the industry.
According to him if the NNPCL takes over the refinery, the allegations of monopoly would no longer be valid.
“Let them (NNPCL) buy me out and run the refinery the best way they can. They have labelled me a monopolist. That’s an incorrect and unfair allegation, but it’s OK. If they buy me out, at least, their so-called monopolist would be out of the way." He said.
He added “We have been facing fuel crisis since the 70s. This refinery can help in resolving the problem but it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, run the refinery'''.
This development from the billionaire is coming after the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, made claims that the Dangote refinery had requested the regulator to stop giving import licences to other marketers to be the only fuel supplier in Nigeria.
“We cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation, because Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop importation of all petroleum products, especially AGO and direct all marketers to the refinery, that is not good for the nation in terms of energy security. And that is not good for the market, because of monopoly,” Ahmed stated in a video interview with State House correspondents.
“In terms of quality, currently the AGO quality in terms of sulphur is the lowest as far as the West African requirement of 50 ppm is concerned.
“Dangote refinery and some modular refineries, like Waltersmith refinery and Aradel refinery, they are producing between 650 to 1,200ppm. So, in terms of quality, their product is much more inferior to the imported quality,” he stated.
Still in the interview, Aliko Dangote revealed to Premium Times that the challenges his refinery is currently facing have validated the warnings of his friends and associates, who advised him to exercise caution when investing billions of dollars in the Nigerian economy.
“As you probably know, I am 67 years old, in less than three years, I will be 70. I need very little to live the rest of my life. I can’t take the refinery or any other property or asset to my grave. Everything I do is in the interest of my country.
“This refinery can help in resolving the problem but it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, run the refinery. At least the country will have high-quality products and create jobs,” he said
Aliko Dangote had openly challenged the regulator to compare extensively the quality of refined products from his refinery with those imported, advocating for an impartial assessment to determine what best serves the interests of Nigeria.
The businessman had on Saturday declared plans to halt his investment in Nigeria’s steel industry to avoid being accused of monopoly.
In a statement made available to newsmen, the company said the representatives observed the testing of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) from two petrol stations alongside Dangote Petroleum Refinery, and praised the company for its significant investments and contributions to Nigeria’s development.
“The Chairman of the House Committee on Downstream, Ikenga Ugochinyere, and Chairman of the House Committee on Midstream, Okojie Odianosen, oversaw the collection of samples from the Mild Hydro Cracking (MHC) unit of Dangote refinery for testing of all the samples,” the statement said.
“You know, about doing a new business which we announced, that is, steel. Actually, our board has decided that we shouldn’t do the steel because if we do the steel business, we will be called all sorts of names like monopoly. And then also, imports will be encouraged,” Mr Dangote said.
“Lab tests revealed that Dangote’s diesel had a sulphur content of 87.6 ppm (parts per million), whereas the other two samples showed sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2000 ppm respectively.
“Dangote emphasised that these findings debunked claims made by Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority, who recently asserted that imported diesel surpasses domestically refined products.
Ahmed had alleged that Dangote refinery and other modular refineries like Waltersmith and Aradel produced diesel with sulphur content ranging from 650 to 1200 ppm—a statement criticised by many Nigerians as a tactic to favour imported products over local ones.”
The Dangote Refinery, which started operations last year after a prolonged construction period, has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The refinery is aimed to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on foreign fuel imports and conserve foreign exchange.
