Dangote sells petrol cheaper in Togo than Nigeria – Marketers cry out

Controversy is brewing in Nigeria’s downstream oil sector as some fuel importers have accused the Dangote Refinery of selling petrol to international traders at rates ₦65 per litre cheaper than what is offered to local marketers.

The allegation was confirmed in separate interviews with the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN).

Both associations expressed concerns over the refinery’s pricing structure, with DAPPMAN specifically criticizing the planned price slash scheduled for Monday, describing it as a strategic move to edge out competition in the Nigerian market.

The Dangote refinery recently announced that it would drop petrol prices from N865 per litre to N841 in Lagos and the South West, and N851 in Abuja, Edo, and Kwara.

This would come alongside the commencement of its direct fuel distribution scheme.

In an interview with our correspondent on Saturday, the DAPPMAN Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, told Sunday PUNCH that members of the group bought Dangote’s petrol from international traders in Lome, Togo, at prices lower than what was offered locally by the refinery.

Adewole said importers had made efforts to buy petrol from the Dangote refinery, but the price was higher, adding that sometimes, it could be better to import the product.

But the Dangote refinery downplayed the allegations, suggesting DAPPMAN might be the force behind the recent attack against it by the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.

NUPENG had accused the refinery of anti-union practices, including refusing to allow drivers to join the group. The union threatened to embark on industrial action over the matter.

Adewole told Sunday PUNCH that Alhaji Aliko Dangote once said he would crash prices whenever importers brought in fuel cargoes into Nigeria.

“So, anytime our cargoes are coming, we expect him to reduce the price. He may give a different reason for the reduction,” he said.

“Dangote is selling to international traders at N65 lower than what he offers in Nigeria, or how is it possible for some of our members to buy from someone who bought from Dangote?

“Dangote sells to international traders at N65 cheaper than what he is selling to us. In some instances, we were able to buy from those people and still bring it to Nigeria. They will take the product to Lomé, claiming that they are buying large quantities.

“I have collated the volume of the products needed by DAPPMAN and sent to Dangote twice, yet he is not giving us products. What else does he want us to do? Even if he would give it to us, it would be with conditions that would not be profitable. Is that business?” he said.

Asked if it was cheaper to import petrol than to buy from the Dangote refinery, Adewole said, “It’s not all the time that it is cheaper. But there are instances in which it was cheaper to buy from international markets, and not only did we buy from international markets, we bought from international traders that Dangote sold to.”

When our correspondent sought to know what DAPPMAN’s requests were, he emphasised the need for discounts.

“Dangote has to give us a discount for the freight cost and other costs that we incur between his jetty and our jetty so that we can sell at the same price, and then we’ll be competitive. People will continue to import if the price is cheaper elsewhere,” he added.

The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said DAPPMAN was right to say Dangote’s fuel was cheaper in Lome than in Nigeria.

“Exactly, DAPPMAN said the correct thing. It is true. We don’t want to be saying everything. But the way things are going, one day we will say everything,” Billy Gillis-Harry said.

Also, a major importer told Sunday PUNCH that his company refused to buy from Dangote because the margin was not favourable.

However, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, a spokesman for the refinery laughed off the allegations.

He said, “We now know who is behind NUPENG. Our free delivery starts Monday.”

The spokesman wondered when DAPPMAN members started buying petrol from Lomé, asking if they no longer patronised Russia and Malta.

Earlier, the DAPPMAN secretary said portraying Dangote refinery’s repeated fuel price cuts as patriotic gestures overlooked both their timing and effect on the market.

Adewole, in a statement on Saturday, said the price reductions were strategically timed when other importers had active cargoes at sea or in tanks, creating price shocks that undermined competition and imposed financial strain on fellow market participants, including the refinery’s domestic customers.

He said it was concerning that the refinery offered lower prices to international buyers while quoting higher rates to local off-takers.

This, he said, contradicted public-facing claims of prioritising Nigerians and placed unnecessary burdens on domestic businesses already operating under tight margins.

On the crisis between Dangote and NUPENG, the executive secretary said his group had watched the dispute with dismay.

“While the matter may not directly concern our association, we are alarmed by the tone, trajectory, and escalation of this issue. Beyond the reputational risks to various market participants, we are concerned about the potential impact this may have on ordinary Nigerians, particularly in a downstream environment still stabilising post-deregulation,” he added.

Adewole noted that the assertion that Nigeria’s downstream stability rested solely on one refinery was dismissive of the broader ecosystem.

He said, “While we welcome the Dangote refinery as a major infrastructure project, its contribution has peaked at only 30 to 35 per cent of national demand. The balance continues to be supplied by responsible petroleum product marketers, including DAPPMAN members, who import and distribute under strict regulatory oversight by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.”

On Dangote’s direct free fuel distribution scheme, he said the claim was misleading.

“The claim that the refinery offers ‘free delivery’ is also misleading. In reality, marketers are required to lift at least 25 per cent of their allocations directly from the refinery gantry and must do so using only Dangote-owned trucks, paying commercial rates based on their destinations. This arrangement imposes additional logistical and financial burdens on marketers, limits operational flexibility, and undermines the narrative of cost relief being provided to the local market,” he alleged.

While conceding that the Dangote refinery is a valuable contributor, Adewole said it was not a messiah.

The Dangote refinery said it would begin the rollout of compressed natural gas-powered trucks on Monday, as part of its logistics-free distribution programme aimed at significantly reducing fuel prices across the country.

The company said the initiative will see the gantry price reduced to N820 per litre, with corresponding lower pump prices in several key states.

(Punch)