Fuel importers in the country have alleged that the Dangote refinery sells a litre of petrol to international traders at N65 cheaper than the amount it gives the product to marketers in Nigeria.
Dangote sells to international traders at N65 cheaper than what he is selling to us. In some instances, we were able to buy from those people and still bring it to Nigeria. They will take the product to Lomé, claiming that they are buying large quantities.
“I have collated the volume of the products needed by DAPPMAN and sent to Dangote twice, yet he is not giving us products. What else does he want us to do? Even if he would give it to us, it would be with conditions that would not be profitable. Is that business?” he said.
The Depot and Petroleum Product Marketers Association of Nigeria, Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria confirmed this in separate exclusive interviews with Sunday PUNCH.
While kicking against the planned slashing of prices on Monday, DAPPMAN in particular said it was a ploy to stifle competition.
The Dangote refinery recently announced that it would drop petrol prices from N865 per litre to N841 in Lagos and the South West, and N851 in Abuja, Edo, and Kwara.
This would come alongside the commencement of its direct fuel distribution scheme.
In an interview with our correspondent on Saturday, the DAPPMAN Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, told Sunday PUNCH that members of the group bought Dangote’s petrol from international traders in Lome, Togo, at prices lower than what was offered locally by the refinery.
Adewole said importers had made efforts to buy petrol from the Dangote refinery, but the price was higher, adding that sometimes, it could be better to import the product.
But the Dangote refinery downplayed the allegations, suggesting DAPPMAN might be the force behind the recent attack against it by the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.
NUPENG had accused the refinery of anti-union practices, including refusing to allow drivers to join the group. The union threatened to embark on industrial action over the matter.
Adewole told Sunday PUNCH that Alhaji Aliko Dangote once said he would crash prices whenever importers brought in fuel cargoes into Nigeria.
“So, anytime our cargoes are coming, we expect him to reduce the price. He may give a different reason for the reduction,” he said.
