The assertion made by Alike Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group, that the refinery, which produces 650,000 barrels per day, currently has 500 million litres of premium motor spirit, or petrol, in stock for future distribution to Nigerians has been questioned by Abubakar Maigandi, the national president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.
This is because its members, who were hired by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to pick up products on its behalf, were unable to load petrol from the Lagos refinery for four days, according to Maigandi.
He added that even after paying the NNPCL N40 billion, oil marketers are still unable to get product from the refinery.
During his appearance on ChannelsTv Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Maigandi made this revelation.
In order to satisfy local demand, Dangote advised petroleum merchants, such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, to purchase fuel straight from his refinery on Tuesday.
He said that at full capacity, the refinery can generate more than 30 million litres of petroleum per day and has 500 million litres in reserve, which would last the nation more than 12 days without imports.
Following private discussions with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja, he affirmed the refinery’s preparedness to deliver fuel.
“We’re more than ready,” Dangote assured State House Correspondents, adding that the refinery’s production capacity could offset Nigeria’s fuel needs significantly.
“It is not an issue because, as we speak today, we have 500 million litres, you know, in our tanks. So 500 million litres in our tanks even if there’s no production from anybody or no imports. This will take the country more than 12 days, you know, with no imports, with no production, nothing,” he added.
In response, the IPMAN head said he was shocked to learn that the refinery now has enough gasoline products on hand to cover the country’s demands for a full twelve days.
Additionally, he was shocked to learn that the $20 billion refinery’s owner claimed that marketers were boycotting his facility in order to purchase petrol from abroad.
Maigandi said, “If he (Dangote) can be able to sell the product to us directly, we can buy the product because we have to pay before we pick. Presently, we have N40bn under the NNPCL custody but we cannot source the product.
“Just recently, there are some of my marketers that NNPCL sent to load in Dangote refinery, and those marketers stayed with their trucks for four days, and they cannot load. So I was surprised when Dangote said he has over 500 million litres of PMS. We are ready to buy the product from Dangote if he is ready to sell it to us directly.”
The IPMAN head said that in order to enable easier loading of the product, the private refinery should directly register independent petrol marketers rather than procuring Dangote fuel through the NNPCL.