Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has denied claims that his group of companies enjoy monopoly, saying it is not true.
The business mogul further added that the land housing the Dangote refinery wasn’t free, claiming that his business paid $100 million to the Lagos State Government.
Dangote said this on Saturday when the leadership of the House of Representatives visited and toured the refinery located at the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
Reps Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, and his deputy, Benjamin Kalu, had led a delegation from the House, which included Hon Ikenga Ugochinyere, to the Dangote Industries.
According to Dangote, his group of companies had never stopped anyone from doing the same business that they are doing.
“If you look at all our operations at Dangote (Group), we add value; we take local raw materials and turn them into products, and we sell,” he said.
“We have never consciously or unconsciously stopped anybody from doing the same business that we are doing.
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“When we first came into cement production, it was only Lafarge that was operating here in Nigeria…Nobody ever called Lafarge a monopoly.
“Monopoly is when you stop people, you block them through legal means. No, it is a level playing field whereby whatever Dangote was given in cement, for example, other people were given because some of them even got more than us.”
He stated that his refinery did not enjoy any incentive from the Federal Government.
“In the refinery, we did not, and I repeat, we did not collect one single incentive from the Federal Government of Nigeria or even Lagos State. Yes, the Lagos State gave us a good deal but we paid $100m for the land. It wasn’t free land; we paid for it.
“Majority of the population are with us. So, we are not discouraged, we will continue what we are doing.”
He also rejected claims that petroleum products from his refinery are below standard, and urged the Reps to investigate the quality of diesel and petrol at filling stations.
He advised the House to set up a committee to test products at various filling stations across the country.
