The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has described the involvement of the President Bola Tinubu-led government in deciding the price of petrol produced by Dangote Refinery as fraud.

Ajaero spoke during a media briefing at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Wednesday.

According to him, the inconsistencies in policies and fraudulent actions of the Tinubu-led administration are the cause of the ongoing conflict between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery.

The NLC President criticised the current administration for attempting to interfere with the operations of private entities like Dangote.

He countered the government’s attempt to dictate the price of petrol produced by Dangote, describing it as fraudulent.

Ajaero said: “In a truly deregulated market, there should be no interference in how private sector entities like Dangote operate. Imposing restrictions or dictating prices goes against the principles of a free market.

“For a locally produced product, with no reliance on imported dollars or landing costs, they’re demanding he sells it at the same price as the imported ones. That’s both fraudulent and unacceptable.

“What you’re witnessing is a mix of fraud and policy inconsistency. Nigerians were led to believe that the sector had been deregulated, and in a deregulated market, competition and choice should prevail. So why is there now an attempt to control how much Dangote should sell his product for?

“When the Port Harcourt refinery becomes operational, both NNPC and Dangote should be able to sell freely. But trying to dictate Dangote’s pricing is dishonest.

“This is the time for Nigerians to speak out. We were told that deregulation would put the private sector in charge and limit government interference in business. Now, the government is trying to regulate how private businesses should price their products.

“They expect him to sell at the same price as the imported product, even though it was produced locally without the additional landing costs. That’s outright fraud.”

Nigeria’s power generation continues to get better under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

According to the latest statement released by Bolaji Tunji, the media aide to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, power generation surged to a three-year high of 5,313 megawatts (MW).

“The national grid on Monday hit a record high of 5,313MW, a record high in the last three years,” the statement disclosed.

Reacting to this, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, called on power distribution companies to take more energy to prevent grid collapse as the grid’s frequency drops when power is produced and not picked by the Discos.

He added that efforts would be made to encourage industries to purchase bulk energy.

However, a top official of one of the Discos was quoted as saying that the power companies were finding it difficult to pick the extra energy produced by generation companies because they were not happy with the tariff on other bands apart from Band A.

“As it is now, we are operating at a loss. Yes, they supply more power but this problem could be solved with improved tariff for the other bands and more meter penetration to recover the cost,” the Disco official, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, said.

On Saturday, the ministry said power generation that peaked at 5,170MW was ramped down by 1,400MW due to Discos’ energy rejection.

Aliko Dangote has officially announced the commencement of petrol production at the Dangote Refinery.

During a press presentation on Tuesday, the billionaire thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for enforcing the sale of crude oil in Naira and for the eventual actualization of the project.

“Today is a very special day, which I think Nigeria has not produced petrol, which is gasoline, for many years but I stand with you today,” Dangote said.

“I would like to salute the people of Nigeria and the government of President Ahmed Tinubu for creating the environment for us to thrive and also achieve this monumental task of giving energy to our people for growth, development and prosperity.”

Dangote presented the first sample of petrol to the press and noted that its color is white, like water, because that is the original color of genuine petrol.

He also addressed the issue of round-tripping in the oil industry, where false documentation leads to petrol shortages.

Dangote said the refinery’s operations, would facilitate a precise tracking of petrol consumption across Nigeria, offering a solution to this problem.

“As we have this refinery working, it will show the true consumption of Nigeria,” he said.

“We can track every single loaded trucks and we will try as much as possible to track the loaded trucks, we can tell you where they are.”

Dangote, while stressing on quality, said the petrol from his plant, meets global standards.

“You will not be having an engine issue which a lot of us were having. It won’t happen at all,” the businessman said.

“So the quality here will match that of quality anywhere in the world. We will make sure that nobody will beat us in terms of quality.”

According to Edwin, the Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) will become the sole buyer of products from Dangote Refinery as it begins production.

“We are currently testing the gasoline, and soon, it will start flowing into the tanks,” Edwin stated. He also noted, “If no one buys it locally, we will export it, just as we’ve been doing with our aviation jet fuel and diesel.”