Aliko Dangote, the President of the Dangote Group, has offered to sell the Dangote refinery to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL.
In an exclusive interview with Premium Times on Sunday, the businessman declared his willingness to sell the refinery in response to claims of his monopoly of the industry.
He claimed that if the NNPCL takes over the refinery, the claims of monopoly will be nullified.
“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.
“We have been facing a fuel crisis since the 1970s. 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, and run the refinery,” Premium Times quoted him as saying.
This comes after Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, claimed that the Dangote refinery had demanded that the regulator stop issuing import permits to other marketers in order to become Nigeria’s exclusive fuel supplier.
“We cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation because Dangote is requesting that we 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 monopolies,” Ahmed stated in a video interview with State House correspondents.
Ahmed further claimed that the refinery’s product was poor.
“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, are producing between 650 and 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their product is much inferior to the imported quality,” he stated.
Dangote told Premium Times that the issues his refinery is currently encountering have justified his friends’ and associates’ cautions to be cautious while investing billions of dollars in Nigeria’s 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, and run the refinery. At least the country will have high-quality products and create jobs,” he said.
The refinery, which started operations last year after a prolonged construction period, has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
