The row between Dangote Refinery and petroleum marketers in Nigeria has taken a new dimension following the comment by the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote that petroleum marketers were not approaching his refinery for purchase of petroleum products.
There has been an uneasy calm since the roll-out of premium motor spirit (PMS) also known as petrol from the Dangote Refinery in September. The were discordant tunes between the management and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other petroleum marketers.
While many Nigerians expected a reduction in the price of fuel from the private refinery, the price of the product skyrocketed leaving many disappointed.
Several Nigerians have lamented about the development and the back and forth among the stakeholders in the value chain, saying what they want is fuel price reduction and availability of the product and not public bickering.
However, it appears a reduced fuel price is a mirage at the moment following what Dangote called apathy from marketers.
Dangote, speaking after a meeting on Tuesday with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa on the naira-for-crude policy, declared that his refinery was ready to supply over 30 million litres daily, adding that his refinery has enough to serve the country.
According to him, “At full capacity, we can even supply whatever is being consumed because what I estimated as our consumption is about 30-32 million litres, which we can even start producing by next week.
“As we speak today, we have 500 million litres in our tanks. With that, even if there is no production anywhere or import, that will take the country more than 12 days.
“So, we are more than ready and I am also putting my name on the line by telling Mr. President that we will be able to supply the market 30 million per day and we are ramping up”, he said.
His comment, however, generated a raft of reactions from marketers, including major and independent petroleum marketers who countered Dangote, insisting that they were ready to buy from him, but at best prices.
One of the marketers said: “If you have a shop and people don’t come to buy your wares, what do you do? Do you go and complain to the government that people must come to my shop?
“Dangote is a private business, like the rest of us. If I have my filling station and people don’t come to my filling station, do I go and complain to myself?
“You should do what will make people come to you; that is what competition means. So, everybody must learn to compete. It is an open market and just like every member of the public has the free will to buy from any station they want to buy, everybody in this deregulated market must compete for its customers including the refineries. Everybody must compete. If you have good terms, customers would come to you.”
Another marketer said a few days ago, he imported PMS cheaper than the price of Dangote fuel.
The marketer, who preferred anonymity, said: “If it was cheaper, everybody would be buying from him (Dangote). The last time I heard, his product was N977 and I could land at N970. Now if I import 50 million litres in a vessel, multiply that 50 million litres by seven to see how much I will lose if I buy from him, that is N350 million”.
For the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), it is a different ball game entirely as they alleged that they were not getting the product directly from Dangote Refinery, despite the recent comment by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, that they could now buy directly from the refinery.
“We are willing to buy the product directly if the refinery is ready to sell to us, but for now, our members can’t access it even after paying,” IPMAN President, Abubakar Maigandi, said while speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily yesterday.
A former Chairman of IPMAN, Ejigbo Satellite Depot, Akinrinade Akinade said: “It is like Dangote is not ready to deal with independent marketers. Our members were with him and said Dangote Refinery had an instruction from the Minister of Finance to sell directly to IPMAN members, but they said they had a standing contract with NNPC and that while that contract is still intact, they cannot deal with IPMAN. They are shutting us out. Whatever is between Dangote and NNPCL, we don’t know.”
