In recent weeks, the nation has suffered an acute fuel scarcity that led the few stations with fuel to sell at exorbitant prices above ₦1,000 per litre while black market prices exceeded ₦1,200.
Lagos – The Dangote Group has dismissed the claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) that its refinery sold Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to the NNPC Ltd at ₦898 per litre, failing to disclose the price at which it sold the product to the state-run oil company, and clarifying that the sale was conducted in U.S. dollars,
The lifting of petrol from the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery commenced on Sunday, 15 September 2024, according to local news outlets.
NNPC’s spokesman Olufemi Soneye was initially quoted by local news outlets that, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote refinery today. The claim that we purchased it at N760 per litre is incorrect.
“For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per litre.”
However, in a press release issued late Sunday the group’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, described the claim as “misleading and mischievous,” stating that it seeks to undermine the company’s recent milestones in addressing Nigeria’s long-standing energy crisis.
According to Chiejina, the statement is aimed at derailing the progress achieved towards alleviating energy insufficiency and insecurity, which have plagued the country for decades.
“Our attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898 per litre to the NNPCL,” the statement said.
“This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, September 15, 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedevilled the economy in the past 50 years.
“We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.”
Chiejina further clarified that the current stock of crude sold to NNPC was procured in dollars, with significant savings compared to existing import prices.
“With this action, there will be petrol in every local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature.
“We assure Nigerians of availability of quality petroleum products and putting an end to the endemic fuel scarcity in the country,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, at a Technical Sub-Committee meeting on the sale of crude oil to local refineries on Friday, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who was represented by the Executive Chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zaccheus Adedeji, had said diesel from the Dangote refinery would be sold in Naira to any interested off-taker.
Adedeji added that petrol would only be sold to NNPC which will then sell to various marketers.
The official also announced the completion of all agreements and modalities for the implementation of the Federal Executive Council approval on the sale of crude to local refineries in Naira and the corresponding purchase of petroleum products in the same currency.
However, after Dangote’s clarification, the NNPC Ltd said in a Monday statement by Olufemi Soneye Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd, that it has released estimated prices of PMS obtained from the Dangote Refinery in its retail stations across the country.
NNPC Ltd said it also wishes to state that, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), PMS prices are not set by government, but negotiated directly between parties on an arms length.
“The NNPC Ltd can confirm that it is paying Dangote Refinery in USD for September 2024 PMS offtake, as Naira transactions will only commence on October 1st, 2024,” the state-run oil company said on X. “The NNPC Ltd assures that if the quoted pricing is disputed, it will be grateful for any discount from the Dangote Refinery, which will be passed on 100% to the general public.”
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational. The country is heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Last December, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s leading industrialist, commenced operations at his $20bn facility located in the outskirts of Lagos, the nation’s commercial hub.
The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. It has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.
The lifting of petrol from the 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery commenced on Sunday, 15 September 2024, according to local news outlets.
Nigerians are supposed to be celebrating this great feat but unfortunately no one is rejoicing about it because their hopes have been dashed.
This is because the coming to life of the refinery changes nothing. It was supposed to be a game changer for Nigerians and Nigeria but it’s not happening. NNPC has dashed that hope and destroyed the happiness.
Prices of petrol tripled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023, from around ₦200/litre to about ₦1000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
Amid a lingering fuel scarcity and crisis, petrol is being sold for ₦855 per litre at state-owned petroleum company, NNPCL, cementing claims that the price has been reviewed upward to reflect the nation’s current foreign exchange woes and fuel landing cost hassles.
In recent weeks, the nation has suffered an acute fuel scarcity that led the few stations with fuel to sell at exorbitant prices above ₦1,000 per litre while black market prices exceeded ₦1,200.
Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, the national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to buy food. Only two years ago Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria is projected to drop to fourth place this year.
The pain is widespread. Unions strike to protest salaries of around $20 a month. People die in stampedes, desperate for free sacks of rice. Hospitals are overrun with women wracked by spasms from calcium deficiencies.
Although President Bola Tinubu increased the minimum wage — after strike action and months-long negotiations with labour unions — from N30,000 to N70,000, his government has increased spending for officials at a time of nationwide starvation.
For workers earning the new N70,000, or $43, per month minimum wage, capricious inflation and naira value have inflicted too much damage for the changes to make any difference in their lives.
The crisis is largely believed to be rooted in two major changes implemented by Tinubu, elected 16 months ago: the partial removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the currency, which together have caused major price rises.
A nation of entrepreneurs, Nigeria’s more than 200 million citizens are skilled at managing in tough circumstances, without the services states usually provide. They generate their own electricity and source their own water. They take up arms and defend their communities when the armed forces cannot. They negotiate with armed kidnappers when family members are abducted.
But right now, their resourcefulness is being stretched to the limit.
In August, Amnesty International accused Nigerian security forces of killing at least 21 protesters during a week of economic hardship protests.
Police and other security agencies clamped down on protests after thousands of people joined rallies against government policies and the high cost of living from August 1st to 10th.
Security forces denied responsibility for deaths during the protests.