The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) which is the sole off-taker “for now” of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Dangote refinery has continued to maintain that it bought petrol per litre at N898 from the oil refinery.
However, the Dangote refinery still firmly contradicts the claim, saying it sold it 15% cheaper than imported petrol without giving the exact figure.
The President/CEO of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote repeated the company’s stance in an interview with Bloomberg maintaining that the refinery sold the petrol to NNPCL at an “international price”.
On Tuesday, 25 September, NNPCL spokesman Olufemi Soneye said he had no new comment to make, adding that what he said earlier subsisted.
Dangote told Bloomberg: “Their (NNPCL) own importation is 15 to 20 per cent more expensive than ours.
“NNPCL bought from us on the 15th of September at an international price. They also imported over 800,000 metric tonnes of gasoline at the same time. So, the one they bought from us is cheaper than the one they are importing.
“People don’t know what they (NNPCL) spend in terms of import. But their own importation is about 15 to 20 per cent more expensive than ours.
“What they are supposed to do is to sell at a basket price or if they want to remove subsidy they can remove subsidy, which is okay and everybody will adjust to it.
“Before the release of the product, Dangote Refinery management, NNPCL and the Federal Government committee on the purchase of crude in naira met and declared that the petrol would be sold only to the NNPCL as the “sole off-taker for now”.
The meeting announced that from October 1, the NNPCL will give effect to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive that the oil giant should sell crude to Dangote Refinery in naira.
On September 15, the NNPCL received the first batch of products from the refinery. Soneye said NNPCL paid $120 million to Dangote Refinery for 25 million litres but said on the eve of supply, the refinery wrote to the oil giant that it could only be able to supply 16.8 million litres.
He added that the refinery could not fulfill its promise. The NNPCL, saying it bought per litre at N898, put the pump price at between N950 in Lagos; N992 in Abuja and N1,019 in Maiduguri, which is the farthest distance to the Lagos supply point.
The price announcement sparked outrage among Nigerians, who eagerly expected a lower pump price from the Dangote Refinery.
Dangote also told Bloomberg that the January raid on his company’s Lagos Head Office by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives was meant to embarrass the firm.
“They (operatives) visited the office but didn’t talk to anybody, nor did they arrest anyone. It was just to cause us an embarrassment.”
He reaffirmed that the gropu remains ‘’100% clean’’ in all its dealings.
Dangote, speaking on his passion for football, said he regretted not investing in Arsenal Football Club of London, in the English Premiership League (EPL) when it was valued at close to $2 billion in 2020.
He said: “I regret not buying it but you know my money was more needed in completing my project (Dangote refinery) than buying Arsenal.
“I would have bought the club for $2 billion but you know I wouldn’t have been able to finish my project. So, it was either I finish my project or go and buy Arsenal.
“But I think that time has passed. The last time when we had this interview, I told you as soon as I finished with the refinery, I was going to try and buy Arsenal.”
