Dangote is willing to sell refinery to NNPC
Aliko Dangote, the President of the Dangote Group, has offered to sell the Dangote Refinery to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
In an exclusive interview on Sunday, the businessman declared his willingness to sell the refinery in response to claims of industry domination.
He claimed that if the NNPCL takes over the refinery, the claims of monopoly will be nullified.
“Let them (NNPCL) buy me out and manage the refinery as best they can. They’ve called me a monopolist. That’s a false and unfair claim, but it’s fine. If they buy me out, their so-called monopolist will be out of the picture.
“We have been experiencing a fuel crisis since the 1970s. This refinery can help solve the situation, but it appears that some individuals are unhappy with me being in the picture. So I’m willing to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, and manage the refinery,” he said.
This comes after Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, claimed that the Dangote refinery had demanded that the regulator stop issuing import permits to other marketers in order to become Nigeria’s exclusive fuel supplier.
“We cannot rely primarily on one refinery to feed the nation, because Dangote has requested that we restrict or stop the importation of all petroleum products, particularly AGO.
“In terms of quality, the AGO’s sulphur content is now the lowest in West Africa, with a requirement of 50 ppm.
“The Dangote refinery and several modular refineries, such as the Waltersmith and Aradel refineries, produce between 650 and 1,200 ppm. So, in terms of quality, their product is significantly inferior than foreign goods,” he added.
According to Dangote, the issues his refinery is currently encountering have justified his friends’ and associates’ cautions to be careful while investing billions of dollars in Nigeria’s economy.
“As you surely know, I am 67 years old, and in less than three years, I will be 70. I don’t need much 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 will help solve this problem, but it appears that certain people are unhappy with me being in the picture. So I’m willing to let go, let the NNPC buy me out and operate the refinery. At the very least, the country will produce high-quality goods and create jobs,” he stated.
The Dangote Refinery, which began operations last year following a lengthy building period, has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The refinery is intended to lessen Nigeria’s reliance on international fuel imports while conserving foreign exchange.
