The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has not given it permission to provide Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria members.
This was disclosed by the company on Thursday in response to demands by oil dealers, acting on behalf of the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, for the refinery to disclose its PMS price
The national president of IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, stated on Wednesday that his members had visited the refinery in Lekki but had been unable to lift petrol for over four days.
Maigandi was responding to the president of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, who said on Tuesday that the facility had over 500 million litres of petrol, but there were no marketers there.
Maigandi had said, “If the refinery truly has 500 million litres, then there should be no reason our members couldn’t load after four days. We’re 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.”
The National President of PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, corroborated the position of his IPMAN counterpart, stressing that petrol retailers had approached the refinery on the need to load products but this never worked.
“We have listened to him (Dangote) and as far as I’m concerned what he said is very strange to my hearing. PETROAN had written to him since 2022, we wanted to have a business meeting with him and understand the business dynamics but no way up till now,” Gillis-Harry told one of our correspondents.
However, in a Thursday statement by the Dangote Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, the firm denied receiving funds from IPMAN, claiming that NNPC received the funds from IPMAN members and that Dangote was not given permission to sell to the independent marketers.
The refinery stated that although discussions are underway, it does not yet have any direct dealings with IPMAN.
The statement titled, ‘IPMAN: Setting the Record Straight’, read partly, “The Dangote Petroleum Refinery wishes to clarify that it has not received any payments from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria to purchase refined petroleum products.
“Although discussions are ongoing with IPMAN, it is misleading to suggest that they (IPMAN members) are experiencing difficulties loading refined products from our petroleum refinery, as we currently have no direct business dealings with them. Consequently, we cannot be held responsible for any payments made to other entities.
“The payment in mention has been made through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and not us. In the same vein, NNPCL has neither approved nor authorised us to release our Premium Motor Spirit to IPMAN.”
Speaking further, Chiejina emphasized that the Dangote refinery can load 2,900 trucks a day, meeting the country’s petroleum needs.
“We would like to emphasise that we can meet the nation’s demand for all petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel. At present, we can load 2,900 trucks per day and we have also been evacuating petroleum products by sea.
“In the interest of our country, we encourage all stakeholders to collaborate and heed the advice of President Tinubu, while promoting a unified approach, rather than engaging in media conflicts and needless propaganda,“ the statement concluded.
