The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has revealed that the company turned down a request by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to increase its 7.25 per cent equity stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

Dangote made the disclosure during an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Nicolai Tangen, according to The Punch.

According to Dangote, the offer by the NNPC to increase its 7.25 per cent stake in the refinery was declined because the company plans to list on the stock exchange, allowing more Nigerians to own shares in the facility.

It was earlier reported that in 2021, the NNPC purchased the 7.25 per cent stake in the refinery for $1bn, with an option to acquire an additional 12.75 per cent by June 2024.

However, the national oil company later backed out of the arrangement.

During the interview with the CEO of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Dangote disclosed that the national oil company had sought to increase its stake in the refinery, but the request was declined.

Responding to questions about the potential risks facing his businesses, Dangote cited the threat of civil war and inconsistencies in government policies, adding, “Actually, if there are civil wars, which is not in the offing at all.

“The other biggest risk is government inconsistencies in policies, and we are addressing that one because if you look at our refinery, the national oil company already owns 7.25 per cent, and they are trying to buy more. We are the ones that said no; we want to now spread it and have everybody be part of it.”

Recall that the NNPC, under its former Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, reduced its stake in the refinery from 20 per cent to 7.25 per cent.

Dangote made this known in 2024, clarifying that the NNPC held only a 7.2 per cent stake in the refinery — not the widely assumed 20 per cent many Nigerians believed.

“The agreement was actually 20 per cent, which we had with NNPC, and they did not pay the balance of the money up until last year; then we gave them another extension up until June (2024), and they said that they would remain where they had already paid, which is 7.2 per cent. So NNPC owns only 7.2 per cent, not 20 per cent,” Dangote stated in 2024, to the surprise of many Nigerians.

Speaking further during the latest interview, the billionaire businessman stated that shareholders would be able to receive their dividends in dollars.

“What we are announcing is that when you invest in any of our businesses going forward, in cement or in the refinery, in petrochemicals, in fertiliser, we guarantee to pay you a dividend in dollars because we are very well into exports. 80 per cent of our revenue will be in dollars,” he said.

According to him, the initial plan was to fund most of the construction work “from our internally generated funds”, but because of naira devaluation, the group “had to rely on Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, UBA and a couple of the local banks, but of course we also have a very good relationship with the Standard Bank of South Africa and, at the beginning, Standard Chartered Bank of the UK”.

He maintained that the company was fortunate, noting that when the plant was completed, the outcome “turned out to be much more than our own expectations.”