Clark lauds Dangote, urges support for local refining

• How NNPCL frustrates Dangote Refinery, by CPPE
• Falana faults NNPCL’s fixing of price for Dangote’s PMS 
• CSO queries national oil firm’s sole buyer status

National Leader of Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Edwin Clark, has applauded Aliko Dangote for the distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) for the country from September 15, 2024.

Clark in a statement on Tuesday described Dangote Refinery as a transformative project for Nigeria’s economy, which has long been plagued by fuel shortages and reliance on imports. 
 
“The impact of this project on our nation’s energy security, employment and economic development will be felt for generations to come,” he said. Clark further acknowledged the refinery’s potential to create thousands of jobs for Nigerian youths and to end the country’s fuel scarcity.
  
He emphasised that fuel pricing must remain fair to avoid further hardship for Nigerians, saying, “In most countries of the world, certain goods they produce are easily affordable to their citizens. This must not be different here in Nigeria.”
 
Moreover, he called on President Bola Tinubu to revisit the policy of establishing modular refineries in the Niger Delta. The policy, endorsed by the previous administration, included plans to create a special fund to support smaller, community-based refineries to complement larger facilities like Dangote’s.

IN A RELATED development, the Executive Director, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Muda Yusuf, has described the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) recent price hike as a plot to frustrate Dangote Refinery, just to sustain petrol importation in Nigeria.

Yusuf, during an interview with Channels Television, yesterday, was reacting to the latest disagreement between NNPC and Dangote Refinery over pricing.
According to him, there seems to be a tendency orchestrated by the NNPCL to frustrate Dangote Refinery, expressing worry over the dramatisation of Dangote Refinery’s pricing by NNPCL.
 
The former Director-General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said the recent wave of petrol price increases was impressive because the product was bought from Dangote Refinery, due to the overstretched pressure of fuel subsidy.
 
He enthused that the cost of Dangote’s petrol could not be more expensive than imported products in terms of landing cost.
ALSO, the human rights crusader, Femi Falana (SAN), has called on the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to stop NNPCL from exercising monopolistic control of PMS refined by Dangote.

Falana said the exclusive purchase of petrol from Dangote Refinery by NNPCL was completely at variance with the letter and spirit of Section 205 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). 
 
Other marketers, he asserted, should be at liberty to purchase petrol directly from Dangote Refinery and distribute it to outlets in all the states of the federation.  
 
The senior lawyer referred to the explanation of the Executive Vice President of Downstream NNPCL, Adedapo Segun, that Section 205 of the PIA, which established NNPCL, stipulated that petroleum prices were determined by free market forces.
 
He said, “On September 5, 2024, NNPCL stated that foreign exchange (forex) illiquidity had been a significant factor influencing the fluctuation in prices of PMS governed by unrestrained market forces, as provided for in the PIA.

While accusing NNPCL of attempting to undermine Dangote Refinery’s efforts to address Nigeria’s energy crisis, CERLA observed that the national oil company becoming the exclusive buyer of petrol from the refinery would enable price manipulation and undermine transparency. 

NNPCL had said it was not the sole off-taker of products from the refinery, adding that the refinery was free to sell its petrol to any marketer. But a week after the statement, the Federal Government announced that the company would be the sole buyer of petrol from the refinery.
 
Addressing the press in Abuja, yesterday, the coalition’s spokesperson, Okwa Dan, alleged that NNPCL spread falsehoods about Dangote Refinery’s pricing, claiming it sold PMS at N868 per litre. 
 
Dan described this as a deliberate attempt to frustrate Dangote Refinery’s smooth operations and part of a larger regime of corruption aimed at frustrating local refineries and perpetuating fuel subsidy scams.