Lagos, Nigeria – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised concerns that vested interests benefiting from Nigeria’s lucrative fuel importation sector might seek to undermine the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. This follows allegations from Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, about ‘mafias’ attempting to sabotage his $20 billion refinery project.
Despite President Bola Tinubu instructing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to facilitate the refinery’s operations by buying crude oil in naira, the Dangote Refinery has yet to commence this process.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Obasanjo indicated that the refinery’s success could attract significant investments from both Nigerian and foreign investors. He noted, “Aliko’s investment in a refinery, if it goes well, should encourage both Nigerians and non-Nigerians to invest in Nigeria. If those who are selling or supplying refined products for Nigeria feel that they will lose the lucrative opportunity, they will also make every effort to get him frustrated.”
Officials from the Dangote Group have recently claimed that international oil companies are either refusing to sell crude oil to the refinery or are charging up to $4 above the standard price. Additionally, they accused the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) of issuing licenses for importing contaminated fuel, which the regulator has denied. The NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, also emphasized that the country would not halt fuel importation to avoid creating a monopoly by the Dangote Group.
Obasanjo also reflected on Nigeria’s historical focus on oil, to the detriment of other sectors like gas and agriculture. “I believe we made a very, very deadly mistake. We put all our eggs in one basket of oil. We even ignored gas. We were flaring gas, which is a very important commodity. We ignored agriculture, which should have been the centerpiece of our economic development,” he stated.
Recalling his attempts to engage Shell in managing Nigeria’s refineries, Obasanjo mentioned that the company declined due to excessive corruption in the sector. “When I was president, I invited Shell to come and take equity and run our refineries for us. They refused and said our refineries were not well maintained. We brought amateurs instead of professionals. There was too much corruption with the way our refineries were maintained. They didn’t want to get involved in such a mess,” he said.
He criticized the government’s repeated but unsuccessful efforts to revitalize the refineries. “How many times have they told us that the refineries would be fixed, and at what price? Those problems as far as the government refineries are concerned have never gone. They have even increased. And if you have such problems, and the problems have not been removed, then, it means we are not going anywhere,” Obasanjo asserted.
Furthermore, Obasanjo critiqued President Bola Tinubu’s approach to removing fuel subsidies, suggesting that the administration should have considered the potential hardships and ways to alleviate them. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Not just wake up one morning and say you removed the subsidy. Because of inflation, the subsidy that we have removed is not gone. It has come back,” he stressed.
This statement adds to the ongoing discourse about Nigeria’s energy sector and the significant challenges facing efforts to reform and modernize it.
