Dangote Refutes NNPC Claims Over Petrol Pricing, Calls for Subsidy Removal

The Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has addressed the recent disagreement involving his refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) regarding the price of petrol in Nigeria.

In an interview on Monday, Dangote disagreed with NNPCL over claims that it purchased petrol at a high rate from the refinery.

Investors King reported that Aliko Dangote had urged the President Bola Tinubu-led government to eliminate fuel subsidies and allow the Dangote Refinery to address Nigeria’s petroleum issues, particularly the high consumption rates that have turned the nation into an importer of most goods.

However, while sharing his thoughts on the petrol pricing concerns, the businessman stated that the refinery’s petrol was sold to NNPCL at a price lower than what the company imported.

Dangote revealed that what transpired was not a disagreement, adding that NNPCL announced a different petrol price to Nigerians.

Meanwhile, Dangote did not mention the exact price at which the product was sold.

According to him, “What’s going on is not really a disagreement per se. NNPC bought this particular one from us on the 15th of September at an international price. They also imported over 800,000 metric tonnes of gasoline.

“The ones they bought from us were actually cheaper than the ones they imported. So when they announced our price, it wasn’t really the real price. What they announced was likely what it cost them, including profits and other things. Meanwhile, they’ve never added profit to their cost before.

“And then, the other one is what they imported, but people don’t know how much they spent on importing. Their own importation was about fifteen to 20 percent more expensive than ours. What they do first is to sell at a basket price. If they want to remove subsidies, they can announce that they’ve removed the subsidy. Everybody will adjust,” he said.