…it’s cheaper to import petrol from international traders who, ironically, purchased the product directly from Dangote.
LAGOS, NIGERIA – The iNews Times | A new controversy is brewing in Nigeria’s downstream oil sector as local petrol importers and marketers accuse the Dangote Refinery of selling petrol to foreign traders at significantly lower prices than it offers to Nigerian buyers.
In exclusive interviews with Sunday PUNCH, two major industry bodies, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), confirmed that Dangote petrol is reportedly sold at N65 per litre cheaper to international buyers operating out of Lomé, Togo, than to domestic marketers.
DAPPMAN’s Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, decried the alleged pricing disparity as a deliberate move to stifle competition and manipulate the local market. According to him, several Nigerian marketers have found it cheaper to import petrol from international traders who, ironically, purchased the product directly from Dangote.
“Dangote sells to international traders at N65 cheaper than what he is selling to us,” Adewole stated. “Some of our members bought from those traders and still managed to bring the fuel back into Nigeria. We’ve written to the refinery multiple times requesting supply, but the conditions are either too rigid or the prices unaffordable.”
He claimed the price cuts recently announced by the refinery, from N865 to N841 per litre in Lagos and other South-West states, and N851 in Abuja, Edo, and Kwara are often timed to coincide with the arrival of fuel cargoes by other importers, effectively destabilising the market.
“This isn’t patriotism, it’s strategy,” Adewole said. “Each time other marketers bring in fuel, Dangote cuts prices. That sends price shocks through the market and forces competitors into financial strain.”
Backing DAPPMAN’s claims, PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry confirmed the allegations, describing them as “the truth we don’t always want to say publicly.”
A top importer also admitted to declining to buy from Dangote due to unprofitable margins.
Despite the criticism, the Dangote Refinery has dismissed the allegations. A spokesperson told Sunday PUNCH that the timing of the backlash coincided suspiciously with a brewing labour dispute with the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), hinting that DAPPMAN may be behind recent union-led attacks.
“We now know who is behind NUPENG,” the spokesperson said. “Our free delivery begins on Monday.”
But DAPPMAN says the so-called “free delivery” offer is misleading. According to Adewole, marketers are compelled to lift at least 25% of their allocated fuel directly from the refinery gantry using only Dangote-owned trucks, for which they pay commercial transportation rates, an arrangement that increases logistical burdens and reduces market flexibility.
“The claim of free delivery is not only false, it’s manipulative,” he said. “It places more cost on marketers and paints a misleading picture of cost relief.”
Adewole further criticised the assumption that Nigeria’s downstream stability rests solely on the Dangote Refinery, noting that the facility currently contributes only 30 to 35 percent of the country’s petrol needs.
“The remaining volume is still being imported and distributed by responsible marketers operating under strict regulatory oversight,” he said. “Dangote is a valuable contributor but not a messiah.”
On the union dispute, Adewole expressed concern about the implications for national fuel supply.
“This issue between Dangote and NUPENG, while not directly our concern, is escalating in a way that could threaten the entire downstream sector,” he warned.
In a statement released Saturday, DAPPMAN reiterated that the ongoing pricing approach by the Dangote Refinery is not only anti-competitive but also jeopardises long-term sectoral health and consumer stability in a deregulated fuel economy.
Meanwhile, the Dangote Refinery has announced it will commence distribution using Compressed Natural Gas-powered trucks as part of its direct delivery scheme, with a further price drop to N820 per litre expected in the coming week.
The unfolding drama highlights the friction between Nigeria’s biggest private refinery and long-standing independent marketers, a tension that could shape the future of fuel pricing in Africa’s largest economy.
