AFRICA’S richest man and President of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, says he is offering his $20 billion refinery at Lekki, Lagos, to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to run, Premium Times reported.

“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 okay. If they buy me out, at least, their so-called monopolist would be out of the way,” Mr Dangote told Premium Times in an interview on Sunday.

He said Nigeria had been facing fuel crisis since the 70s, noting that his 650,000 barrels-per-day-capacity refinery could help in resolving the problem.

“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,” he further said.

Disputes all over

Dangote Refinery has had disputes with Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and international oil companies (IOCs). He has accused IOCs of using middlemen to raise crude prices as well as working to kill the refinery.

READ ALSO: Aso Villa Insiders: Dangote is not a darling of Tinubu’s government and must guard his comments

Its Vice-President for Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Mr Devakumar Edwin, had, on June 23, accused IOCs in Nigeria of trying to scuttle the survival of Dangote Refinery.

“The Federal Government issued 25 licences to build refinery and we are the only one that delivered on promise. While the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is trying their best to allocate the crude for us, the IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating our efforts to buy the local crude,” the Dangote Group’s Vice- President had noted.

He also accused the NMDPRA of granting licences indiscriminately to marketers to import “dirty refined products into the country.”

NNPC shares in the blame

Dangote Refinery also blamed the Nigeria National Oil Company (NNPC) Limited for forward crude oil sales, saying that these have contributed to the company’s struggle for crude.

The NNPC Limited has engaged in a number of forward sales and crude-for-cash deals. On August 16, 2023, the NNPC Limited got a $3.3 billion emergency crude-for-loan deal. It is considering getting a new $2 billion loan using crude oil as collateral, BusinessDay reported.

But Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Olakunle Alake, said on Saturday that, “If there is crude, we will get enough, but if you’ve already sold a substantial part of your production forward, there will be an issue with supplying current needs because you’ve already obtained money against your future production.”

Mr Alake noted that there was no contractual obligation mandating NNPC to provide Dangote refinery with all of its crude needs, stressing that “they are only expected to give us what they think they have available.”

NMDPRA hits Dangote

In response to Dangote Group’s claims, Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, said on July 18 that Dangote Petroleum Refinery did not have an operating license and was just 45 percent completed.

READ ALSO: Nigerians question NNPC’s $2.8bn deal with Dangote Refinery

“Of course, there are lots of concerns about the supply of petroleum products nationwide and the claim by some media houses that we were trying to scuttle Dangote Refinery is not true,” he said.

He noted that “Dangote Refinery is still in the pre-commissioning stage. It has not been licensed. We have not licensed them yet. I think they are about 45 percent completed.”

He pointed out that the country would not just rely on one refinery to feed it with petrol. “Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop all importation of petroleum products, especially automotive gas oil (AGO) or jet kero and direct all marketers to the refinery,” he further said.

He stressed that Dangote Refinery’s products were inferior to others in the market.

“In terms of quality, their quality is much, much inferior to the imported commodities,” he noted.

Tinubu keeps mum amid allegations of not supporting Dangote

In all of the drama, President Bola Tinubu has made no comments, nor has he provided any support for the businessman and his refinery.

In fact, ASO Villa insiders have told Economy Post that Africa’s richest man was not loved by President Bola Tinubu’s government and should guard his comments.

Two Aso Villa insiders who spoke with Economy Post asked Mr Dangote to tread with caution and reduce publicity against the government or its agency.

One of them, who is close to President Tinubu, said: “Our government perceives some of the publicity stunts as an attack.”

“When you say that IOCs are sabotaging you, you are simply saying that the government is incapable of regulating IOCs, or you are pushing us against investors that have been here long before you came into the industry.

“You have not spoken to the president about this. All we hear are complaints in the media. I just want to caution him to guard his comments. He is an important entrepreneur to us, but we can’t create a monopolistic market for him to dominate as past governments did,” the source said.

Another Aso Villa source noted that “Dangote is playing politics” and “is not the only entrepreneur in the world.” The source said, “He has benefitted enough from Nigeria and should reduce his noise.”

But others disagreed with the body language of President Tinubu and officials of his administration.

“I am shocked by the comment by the regulator. That’s unfortunate. The government must not show investors that Nigeria is not for them. They must ensure they support Dangote and indeed every other investors who have put their hard-earned money here. It is tough to do business here, and to think that regulators will be confronting an investor is absurd,” an economist, Ms Cythia Brown-Cherries, said.

READ ALSO : Confirmed: Tinubu spends N5.4trn on petrol subsidy in 2024 amid lies, denials by ministers

A United Kingdom-based investment consultant, Dr Chuka Chile, cautioned the Tinubu government and its officials to be wary of the kind of comments made against investors.

“We must learn a lesson from other nations. I do not support Dangote’s monopoly target in every industry, but I don’t think investing $20 billion is child’s play. Let’s help him to grow, rather than pull him down,” Dr Chile noted.