President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has once again accused powerful interests within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry of attempting to sabotage his $20 billion refinery and petrochemicals project in Lekki, Lagos.
Speaking at an investor forum in Lagos over the weekend, Dangote claimed that a “cabal” benefiting from decades of government-subsidised fuel imports is actively resisting the success of his 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery.
“For a very, very long time, those that have made a lot of money from government-subsidised oil imports into Nigeria were the ones trying to sabotage the $20 billion refinery,” he said, according to global news platform Semafor.
He further alleged that this group has also sponsored opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidies, with the aim of frustrating the refinery’s operations.
Despite the obstacles, Dangote expressed strong confidence in overcoming the resistance. “We’re fighting, and the fight is not yet finished. But I have been fighting all my life, and I am 100 percent sure I will win at the end of the day.”
He also recalled previously warning, in June 2024, about both local and international “mafia” efforts to block the refinery’s development. “I didn’t know the mafia in oil were stronger than the mafia in drugs,” he said, reaffirming that they tried “several times” to halt the project.
