The row between Dangote Refinery and petroleum marketers in Nigeria has taken a new dimension following the comment by the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote that petroleum marketers were not approaching his refinery for purchase of petroleum products.
There has been an uneasy calm since the roll-out of premium motor spirit (PMS) also known as petrol from the Dangote Refinery in September. The were discordant tunes between the management and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other petroleum marketers.
While many Nigerians expected a reduction in the price of fuel from the private refinery, the price of the product skyrocketed leaving many disappointed.
Those who spoke with our correspondent yesterday lamented the development and the back and forth among the stakeholders in the value chain, saying what they want is fuel price reduction and availability of the product and not public spat.
However, it appears a reduced fuel price is a mirage at the moment following what Dangote called apathy from marketers.
Dangote, speaking after a meeting on Tuesday with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa on the naira-for-crude policy, declared that his refinery was ready to supply over 30 million litres daily, adding that his refinery has enough to serve the country.
According to him, “At full capacity, we can even supply whatever is being consumed because what I estimated as our consumption is about 30-32 million litres, which we can even start producing by next week.
“As we speak today, we have 500 million litres in our tanks. With that, even if there is no production anywhere or import, that will take the country more than 12 days.
“So, we are more than ready and I am also putting my name on the line by telling Mr. President that we will be able to supply the market 30 million per day and we are ramping up”, he said.
His comment, however, generated a raft of reactions from marketers, including major and independent petroleum marketers who countered Dangote, insisting that they were ready to buy from him, but at best prices.
‘Dangote must sell at a cheaper rate’
While the Dangote Refinery has not revealed the price at which it sells petrol to marketers, some of them who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity said while they were willing to buy from the private refinery, the price they are getting from it at the moment is higher than what is paid on the imported product.
One of the marketers said: “If you have a shop and people don’t come to buy your wares, what do you do? Do you go and complain to the government that people must come to my shop?
“Dangote is a private business, like the rest of us. If I have my filling station and people don’t come to my filling station, do I go and complain to myself?
“You should do what will make people come to you; that is what competition means. So, everybody must learn to compete. It is an open market and just like every member of the public has the free will to buy from any station they want to buy, everybody in this deregulated market must compete for its customers including the refineries. Everybody must compete. If you have good terms, customers would come to you.”
‘I once landed at a cheaper rate’
Another marketer said a few days ago, he imported PMS cheaper than the price of Dangote fuel.
The marketer, who preferred anonymity, said: “If it was cheaper, everybody would be buying from him (Dangote). The last time I heard, his product was N977 and I could land at N970. Now if I import 50 million litres in a vessel, multiply that 50 million litres by seven to see how much I will lose if I buy from him, that is N350 million”.
For the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), it is a different ball game entirely as they alleged that they were not getting the product directly from Dangote Refinery, despite the recent comment by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, that they could now buy directly from the refinery.
“We are willing to buy the product directly if the refinery is ready to sell to us, but for now, our members can’t access it even after paying,” IPMAN President, Abubakar Maigandi, said while speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily yesterday.
A former Chairman of IPMAN, Ejigbo Satellite Depot, Akinrinade Akinade, in a chat with our correspondent said: “It is like Dangote is not ready to deal with independent marketers. Our members were with him and said Dangote Refinery had an instruction from the Minister of Finance to sell directly to IPMAN members, but they said they had a standing contract with NNPC and that while that contract is still intact, they cannot deal with IPMAN. They are shutting us out. Whatever is between Dangote and NNPCL, we don’t know.”
When contacted yesterday, Executive Secretary of the Major Energy Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Mr. Clement Isong stated that the market is willing and ready to buy from Dangote.
“Everybody is willing to buy from him (Dangote). The market prefers to buy from him as a local refiner and we expect to benefit from the best price, given that we have cut out the freight transportation. He is buying his product in naira. So all these increases in exchange rate shouldn’t affect him. We are very happy to buy from him at the best price,” he said.
‘Our refinery will serve Nigeria
When contacted, the Chief Branding and Corporate Communications Executive of Dangote Group, Mr. Tony Chiejina, said: “Our refinery has come to stay and it will serve Nigeria well”.
He said it should be a thing of joy for every Nigerian, including marketers that a Nigerian broke the jinx by refining locally after 39 years of relying on importation.
‘We are tired of the back and forth’
A commercial transporter, Oladele Johnson in a chat with Daily Trust lamented what he called deception by authorities in the oil and gas sector.
He stated that the controversy over the pricing is a ploy to continue to increase and plunge more Nigerians into poverty.
“The government, the marketers and other stakeholders are just taking us for granted and deceiving us. When the president increased fuel prices then, he said it was just for a period of time. They are just deceiving us and gradually the price has been going up and just yesterday (Tuesday), the price went up again.
“We seem to be losing hope that we are going to get cheap fuel in Nigeria again because since I was born, I have not seen a reversal of price increase of any commodity. We hope it will not be the same with petrol,” he said.
Alhaji Sani Yusuf, a transport union leader in Lagos, also called for honesty and transparency among players in the oil industry value chain.
‘Nigerians have succumbed to fuel price hikes’
Commenting on the latest price hike, a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Ambrose Aisabor, said Nigerians have succumbed to frequent hikes in fuel price.
“Nigerians have now taken the frequent hikes in the price of petrol as part of their daily life. It is now our portion. Nigerians are used to hardship and that is why no one is complaining. The few people that are complaining are doing that by way of quiet grumblings,” he said.
On the issue between Dangote and the marketers, the public affairs analyst said, “The major problem is not between Dangote and marketers but between Dangote and the NNPCL”.
Aisabor advised the NNPCL to focus on fixing its three refineries.