Dangote Refinery: Buy Me Out, Aliko Dangote Tells NNPCL

Apparently speaking out of frustration, Alhaji Aliko Dangote on Sunday indicated his willingness to give up ownership of the multibillion-dollar Dangote refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Many Nigerians have at the weekend expressed concern over the new dimension the brawl between the Dangote Group and regulatory authorities in the oil and gas industry have taken over the operations the Dangote refinery.

Aliko Dangote, had alleged that local and foreign interests, which he likened to a “mafia”, made repeated attempts to thwart his refinery’s completion.

A few days afterwards, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) alleged that the Dangote Refinery was producing inferior products compared to imported ones.

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Farouk Ahmed, who is the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, alleged that the quality of diesel produced by the refinery was 665 ppm, which he considered inferior, warning therefore that Nigeria may not rely heavily on the Dangote refinery for its fuel supply.

He also said that the refinery has not been licenced to begin operations in the country.

Ahmed made this known while speaking with journalists at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday.

He also denied allegations that the regulatory body was attempting to scuttle the operations of the private refinery due to lack of crude oil supply from international oil companies (IOCs).

In an exclusive interview he granted to PREMIUM TIMES yesterday, however, Africa’s richest man said: “Let them (NNPCL) buy me out and run the refinery the best way they can. They have labelled me a monopolist. That’s an incorrect and unfair allegation, but it’s OK. If they buy me out, at least, their so-called monopolist would be out of the way”.

The 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery, which cost about $19 billion, was commissioned last year, and it had shown promise of helping to tackle Nigeria’s huge reliance on fuel on importation of refined petroleum products, thereby saving the country about 30 per cent of the total foreign exchange spent on imports.

Speaking further in the exclusive interview, Aliko said: “We have been facing fuel crisis since the 70s. This refinery can help in resolving the problem but it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, run the refinery.”https://cleveradvertising.com

Credible sources told Daily Trust last night that the NMDPRA boss will face a committee of the House of Representatives today (Monday) to explain all the contentious issues around the Dangote refinery, and to prove that the federal government had nothing to hide around the success or otherwise of the refinery.

This is just as economic experts and stakeholders made a strong case for the federal government and its agencies to give full backing to domestic refineries like Dangote’s, saying this would have a multiplier effect on the economy.

When contacted by one of our reporters to comment on the allegations that Ahmed had the backing of the Presidency on the dispute with the Dangote refinery, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, declined to make any comment. Instead, he sent the number of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen.

But efforts to reach out to her were not successful as she neither answered calls to her line nor responded to a text message sent to it.

Our reporters wanted to also confirm from the government officials if President Bola Tinubu, being the Minister of Petroleum Resources, would intervene to address the lingering spat, which appears to be doing great damage to the government, as many Nigerians allege that there are attempts to sabotage the local refinery. Similarly, keen observers believe that the brawl could also do damage to Nigeria, as it sends wrong signals to potential investors.