Aliko Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group, has offered to sell the refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
In an exclusive interview with Premium Times on Sunday, the businessman stated that he was willing to sell the refinery in order to address accusations of monopoly in the industry.
He said that the allegations would no longer be valid if the NNPCL took control of the refinery. “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 okay. If they buy me out, at least, their so-called monopolist would be out of the way,” he said.
“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,” Premium Times quoted him as saying.
This is in response to statements made by Farouk Ahmed, the CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, stating that the Dangote refinery had asked the regulator to cease granting import licenses 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 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.
Ahmed also alleged that the refinery’s product is inferior.
“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.
Premium Times was informed by Dangote that the difficulties his refinery is presently experiencing have confirmed the advice of his friends and associates to proceed cautiously while making billion-dollar investments 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
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.