Alhaji Aliko Dangote says he is willing to sell out his newly established petroleum refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Limited in a bid to clear his name off allegations of monopoly.
This comes on the hills of allegations by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, who recently made claims that the group was bidding to become the sole distributor of petroleum products in the country by asking that the NNPC seize giving import licenses to other marketers.
The President of Dangote Group who spoke in an interview with journalists on Sunday, said that if the NNPCL takes over the refinery, the allegations of monopoly would no longer be valid adding 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.
According to Dangote who described the allegations as “incorrect and unfair,” his yearnings were in the best interest of the country which has been facing fuel crisis for several decades and not just for personal gains.
He explained that he was already close to 70 and would not take his investments or company to the grave, adding that, the refinery, which started operations last year after a prolonged construction period, has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and aims to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on foreign fuel imports and conserve foreign exchange.
Dangote 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.
“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
Meanwhile, Farouk Ahmed had alleged that the Dangote refinery had requested the regulator to stop giving import licences to other marketers to be the only fuel supplier in Nigeria, adding that refinery’s product is inferior.
He was recently quoted in a video interview with State House correspondents saying, “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.”
“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.”
