The Dangote refinery’s direct fuel distribution scheme has led to bulk fuel consumers and filling stations abandoning their middlemen suppliers in favor of Dangote’s free delivery.

According to Yusuf Othman, President of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, buyers have jettisoned contracts signed with his members to receive free delivery from Dangote. Othman explained that his members have up to 30,000 trucks and cannot do fuel distribution free of charge.

“We have our members who have signed agreements with so many companies. Some are even informal agreements, but we have formal agreements signed, and by that, we used those formal agreements to collect bank facilities to buy trucks and serve those companies. But now, those agreements are at stake because a big brother is coming to supply directly to them, not minding the fact that they have signed agreements with us,” Othman stated.

He further noted that the information available showed that this is ongoing, and as such, their trucks will not be used again.

Othman appealed to Dangote to consider the survival of other players in the sector, saying everybody wants the refinery to succeed.

“If I sign an agreement with you for service by virtue of my 10 trucks, and somebody somewhere comes to do the same thing for you for free, it’s a very delicate situation. So, that is one of the reasons why we are calling on the Federal Government, especially the NMDPRA, which has told all of us clearly that this act is an illegal act by virtue of Section 212 of the PIA,” he said.

The Dangote refinery launched its logistics-free distribution scheme with over 1,000 compressed natural gas-powered trucks deployed to several states, including Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Kwara, and Abuja.

The scheme also came with a slash in fuel prices, with Lagos and other South-Western states seeing fuel retailing at N841 per litre, while Abuja, Rivers, Delta, Edo, and Kwara states will sell at N851 per litre.

Abubakar Shettima, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, confirmed that Dangote Refinery’s compressed natural gas-powered trucks have started delivering fuel to their stations at no cost to them.

“Dangote has started the free delivery. Already, the trucks have started moving. In most parts of the Western Zone, they have already started discharging their products, since it is closer to Lagos. So the plan is moving seriously. And my marketers are very pleased with the development. I can confirm to you that my members have started receiving the trucks in Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Ibadan, and others,” Shettima stated.