Dangote refinery playing ‘hide and seek’ with fuel price – Nigerians react

The news of Dangote refinery being ready for production sent waves of relief to Nigerians as it was believed that we would not have to export crude outside the country again.

Tinubu in his inaugural speech on 29, May 2023 announced the removal of fuel subsidy and immediately the price of fuel skyrocketed putting Nigerians and many businesses on the brink of collapse.

In September 2024, the refinery began its first roll out, in the minds of Nigerians, the refinery would cut down cost of production as we would not have to import again, thereby resulting in buying fuel at a cheaper rate and also tackle the issue of fuel scarcity.

Fast forward today, fuel is still sold at an exorbitant price and there are still queues due to fuel scarcity.

To make issues worse, the Independent Marketers have been complaining about the high cost at which they load fuel from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, who are the sole buyers of the fuel from the refinery.

On Friday, in his latest remark, Yakubu Suleiman, National Assistant Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria during an interview with Arise Television said that alternative sources are cheaper than Dangote oil.

He said Dangote petrol is sold between N1,115 and N1,028 per litre.

Reacting to the remark, Dangote group on its official X handle denied claims by petroleum marketers that Dangote PMS is sold between N1,115 and N1,028 per litre.

With uncertainty in the air, Nigerians have asked Dangote refinery to state how much they have been selling petrol

Many argued that debunking a news as fake and not giving disclosure sounds skeptical and urged the refinery to ensure transparency in their tweets

@Abbaaudu: “Dangote’s reluctance to publicly disclose the price of his petroleum products raises questions. If his refinery produces at a lower cost, why not transparently announce prices to attract local buyers and reduce imports? The secrecy fuels speculation about potential market dominance or unseen factors at play.

@Olurunwababs: “It is laughable to debunk a claim as fake, then refuse to disclose how much it is to buy from Dangote Refinery!