Former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola said his administration discounted the price of land allocated to the Dangote Group to secure the refinery project that later became the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in the Lekki Free Zone.

Nairametrics reported that Fashola made the disclosure during his keynote address, titled “From Presence to Power: Advancing Women’s Influence in the Boardroom,” at the Chartered Institute of Directors Nigeria Women Directors’ Biennial Conference held earlier this week at the National Arts Theatre in Lagos.

He said the decision followed advice from then Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Olusola Oworu, who argued that attracting the investment would generate greater long-term economic benefits than insisting on the state’s fixed land pricing.

Fashola recalled that after the Dangote Group selected Lagos as the preferred location for the refinery and the state identified a suitable site, negotiations stalled over the cost of the land.

According to him, Lagos operated a fixed-rate pricing system for land under its various allocation schemes, but the Dangote Group considered the asking price too high, prompting discussions within the state government over whether to proceed with the allocation.

“Look, Governor, you have 16,000 hectares of land. The Chinese are in 3,000 hectares. We have barely built 200. Thirteen thousand is waiting for investors. You have now found an investor who wants to take 2,000 hectares and build a refinery of $19 billion and you are quibbling over the cost of the land. Offer the land at a discount. Once it comes in, others will follow. And then you can make money from your land,” Fashola quoted Oworu as telling the State Executive Council.

“That was a thinking decision. And the whole of council then looked to me and I surrendered,” Fashola said, adding that Oworu’s intervention changed the course of the deliberations.

“Ineffectiveness is not a gender thing; it is a human thing,” he said while arguing that leadership should be judged by competence rather than gender.

Fashola said the decision enabled Lagos to retain the refinery project after negotiations over the land price stalled. He cited Oworu’s intervention as an example of strategic thinking and used the episode to reinforce his broader argument that women in leadership should be assessed on competence, preparation and impact rather than representation alone.

The conference also featured calls for organisations to move beyond increasing women’s representation on boards and focus on giving them greater influence over strategic decision-making.

CIoD Nigeria First Vice President, Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, said although more women now serve on corporate boards and lead institutions across the public and private sectors, they remain underrepresented in board chair and executive leadership positions where key decisions are made.

She urged organisations to strengthen mentorship and sponsorship programmes to build stronger leadership pipelines for women.

CIoD Nigeria President and Chairman of the Governing Council, Otunba Adetunji Oyebanji, said board appointments should be driven by competence, skills and integrity rather than traditional leadership pathways that have historically limited women’s access to top positions.

He added that increasing women’s influence in boardrooms is becoming more important as organisations navigate economic uncertainty, technological disruption and changing stakeholder expectations.

Speakers at the conference said expanding women’s participation in leadership requires organisations to focus not only on board representation but also on ensuring women have greater influence over strategic decision-making.

The Dangote Group originally planned to build the refinery in the Olokola Free Trade Zone, spanning Ogun and Ondo states. However, disagreements with the Ogun State Government under the administration of former Governor Ibikunle Amosun led the company to relocate the project to the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos.

The refinery commenced production on January 12, 2024, and has a nameplate refining capacity of 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it Africa’s largest refinery and one of the world’s largest single-train refineries.

In February 2026, the company announced it had reached its full designed processing capacity after optimising its Crude Distillation Unit and Motor Spirit production block.

The refinery is seeking to raise about $1 billion through a private placement after being valued at $39.1 billion.

Nairametrics reported that according to an Information Memorandum, indications of interest for the private placement have exceeded $2 billion.

The refinery remains one of Nigeria’s largest private-sector investments and continues to expand its operations while pursuing fresh capital from investors.