Aliko Dangote, the President of Dangote Group, has a proposal to sell out the Dangote Refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL.
While speaking in an exclusive interview with Premium Times on Sunday, July 21, He stated his readiness to sell off the refinery so as to tackle the issue of Monopoly in the oil sector.
According to him, once he sells of the refinery to the NNPCL, the issue of him monopolising the market will no longer occur.
According to his interview on Premium Times, he said, “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 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 was said after Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, had alleged that Dangote Refinery has asked the regulator to stop giving other marketers import licences and that the refinery will be the only fuel supplier in Nigeria.
According to Ahmed in his interview, “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.”
He also said that Dangote’s Refinery 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”
Aliko Dangote said that the challenges his facing with the refinery, has confirmed the warnings of friends and associates, who has advised him to be careful when investing billions of dollars in the Nigerian economy.
He said, “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.”
The Dangote Refinery has the capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, and also, they started operations last year after a long construction period.
The refinery is aimed to reduce Nigeria from relying on foreign fuel imports and to conserve foreign exchange.
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