By Abiola Olawale
Nigerian billionaire business mogul and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has denied reports that the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as fuel lifted from his company, the Dangote Refinery, is more expensive than imported ones.
This is as Dangote accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of misleading the public on prices of fuel lifted from his refinery in Lagos State.
The billionaire businessman who spoke with the press disclosed that the fuel he sold to the NNPCL was 15% lower than imported fuel.
According to him, the price fixed by NNPC was not transparent, and it was a result of the high costs spent on importing fuels from foreign countries.
He said: “What is going on is not a disagreement per se. NNPC bought from us this particular one, on the 15th of September at the international price. They also bought over 800,000 metric tons of imported gasoline. The one that they bought from us is cheaper than the one they are importing. So when they announced our price, the guy, I don’t know whether he was authorised or not, but it was not the real price.
“Most likely that is what cost them, including profit, including whatever you know they have never added profit to their cost. And then the other one is the one that they imported, but people don’t know how much they spent in terms of the import, but their import is almost or maybe about 15% to 20% more expensive than ours.
“So what they were forced to do is to sell at a ‘basket price’ or they want to remove subsidy, they can announce that they have removed subsidy, which is okay, everybody will adjust to it.”
The New Diplomat reports that the pricing of the fuel lifted from the Dangote Refinery by the NNPCL has been generating massive controversies.
In a press statement issued by NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, the company revealed that in Sokoto State, the price is set at N999.22, while Katsina State faces challenges with supply. In Borno State, the price is set at N1,019.22 per litre. In Sokoto, Kano, Kaduna, and the FCT, the price is set at N999.22, while it is N950.22 in Lagos and N960.22 in Oyo, respectively. According to the NNPCL , fuel will be sold for N980.22 in Rivers and Imo states, respectively.
It would be recalled that the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had criticised NNPCL for selling fuel lifted from the Dangote refinery at higher prices than imported ones.
IPMAN National Welfare Officer John Kekeocha, who spoke on the matter said: “If NNPC can sell Dangote products higher than the imported products, then it doesn’t make sense. What is the celebration we are having all these while then?”
