Some fuel importers in the country have alleged that the Dangote refinery has sells a litre of petrol to international traders at 65 naira cheaper than the amount it gives the product to marketers in Nigeria.
The Depot and Petroleum Product Marketers Association of Nigeria, Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN confirmed this in separate exclusive interviews with newsmen.
While kicking against the planned slashing of prices on Monday, DAPPMAN in particular said it was a ploy to stifle competition.
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 newsmen, the DAPPMAN Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, said 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.
However, 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 said that Alhaji Aliko Dangote once said he would crash prices whenever importers brought in fuel cargoes into Nigeria.
Punch/Adebayo Yusuf
