Billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote has warned that regulatory charges and port costs are making it more expensive for oil marketers to buy fuel from his Lekki refinery than to import from countries like Togo.
Speaking at a recent fuel market conference in Abuja, Dangote said:
“It is currently more expensive to load a domestic cargo of petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery, as customers pay both at the point of loading and at the point of discharge. But when they load from Lome, they pay only at the point of discharge. This is simply unfair and unsustainable.”
He explained that these costs are discouraging local purchases and fueling Nigeria’s continued dependence on imported fuel, despite the country now having one of the largest refineries in Africa.
According to him, the current structure defeats efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in fuel production and encourages the importation of low-quality fuel often rejected in developed countries.
Some fuel marketers have also expressed frustration over the refinery’s sales approach.
Olufemi Adewole, Executive Secretary of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), said:
“You don’t get the price upfront. It is only after you’ve been cleared that a proforma invoice is issued.”
He claimed that only a few select buyers are being prioritised, leaving out many independent marketers.
Clement Isong, head of the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, urged regulators to monitor the situation:
“When you get to a point where only one player is left in the market, that is no longer a market; that is a monopoly.”
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