The President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, had stated that the recent reduction in the price of petrol to N899.50 per litre at its loading gantry was primarily influenced by the complex dynamics of market forces.
He also explained his responsibility to protect both the interests and investments of the multibillion-dollar company.
This was disclosed by the oil magnet on Wednesday
during an interview in an Arise TV documentary posted on YouTube.
He said, “The price reduction is a response to the market, let me just put it that way. It is a refinery where we invested over $20bn and I think we have to try and protect our interests and also our investments.”
On December 19, 2024, Dangote Refinery lowered the ex-depot price of its petrol from N970 to N899.50 per litre, triggering fierce pricing competition in the downstream sector. This led the NNPCL to reduce its ex-depot price to N899 per litre.
Additionally, the refinery partnered with MRS Petrol Station to offer petrol at N935 per litre at its retail outlets nationwide, a move welcomed by Nigerians.
In the interview, Dangote reiterated that the 650,000 barrels per day refinery will not only revolutionize Nigeria’s oil sector but also drive significant transformation in the country’s entire economy.
He emphasized that importing petroleum products puts additional strain on foreign exchange reserves.
“40 per cent of our demand on foreign exchange is through people dealing in petroleum products and the more we allow imports to come in, not because I do not want imports, but the more we allow imports to come in, the more we keep using most of our foreign exchange out of the country because the majority of those letters of credit open for petroleum products and the goods are not coming into Nigeria,” he said.
“There is nothing you would do that you won’t get criticism for. But I think we cannot also control people from speaking their minds.
Dangote reiterated that he was open to criticism, adding that in the history of Nigeria, in the last 100 years, “nobody has put in $20bn in any project”.
“Criticism will not stop us from continuing with what we are doing. I did this project because of my love for my country and to make sure that I have a legacy project. If I invested this money in Google or Apple, my investment would be more, and I wouldn’t be having the headache that I’m having today.
“So, I think it is patriotism that made me do this. I would rather leave a legacy behind. I’m not a rich man. I’m a wealthy man. And wealthy people, what they do is to create work for the generality of people, not to amass cash for themselves,” he added.
He also referred to the $1 billion investment by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company in the refinery as “a mere drop in the ocean.”
“In 2021, when we signed the agreement, even if you give us $1bn, $1bn is a drop in the ocean in a $20bn refinery,” Dangote said.
“When NNPC said, ‘Give us one more year, we want to change the agreement, we would rather pay you cash,’ because people didn’t understand this issue about the $2 deduction on the crude.
“Can we make sure that there’s clarity around it? So what do you want? So they said they would pay us cash, and we should give them one more year.
“We gave them one more year. So from June last year to June this year. So on June 4th or 5th, I called NNPC and they gave us a week.”
Dangote later stated that the NNPC abruptly decided to back out of the transaction when the payment was due.
