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We all want a better Nigeria for all of us but regrettably we are not getting what we want and worse still a bunch of privileged crooks joyfully derives pleasure in taking Nigerians for a harsh ride in the evil forest. It is now obvious that between the Federal Government and NNPC Limited, somebody or both are not telling us the whole truth about their ongoing dance of shame in the public space against Dangote Refinery.
The truth Remains that NNPC and the FG have not been forthcoming with the truth. Why is it that we can’t get efficiency or even the slight truth from the NNPC over the years?
Let’s even look at where we are coming from in this Dangote-FG/NNPCL supposed variance: First, it was a huge celebration when former President, Gen Mohammadu Buhari commissioned the Dangote refinery project. Then we moved to celebrate the anticipated crashing of fuel prices since we now produce locally even though from a private refinery.
Then Bola Tinubu takes over in May 2023 and we started hearing that NNPCL is reducing its stake in the Dangote refinery project despite previously telling Nigerians the company raised over $2billion to invest in the project as a shareholder.
From there we moved to hear from NNPCL that it is considering divesting completely from the project. Then Dangote rolled out diesel from the plant. And instead of celebrations, both the NNPCL and all the government upstream and downstream regulatory agencies particularly the Nigerian Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NMPRC) came after Dangote with the story that his diesel was off spec for our domestic consumption and would not be allowed to sell in our domestic market.
To safeguard NNPC interests, the government moved to muscle and bully Dangote. First they raided Dangote Refinery accusing him of Foreign exchange laundering. Then they denied him crude for his refinery, to the extend Dangote started buying crude from the United States of America. They later came up with allegations that Dangote Refinery product(diesel) was substandard.
When the bullying was getting too much, in what definitely was a fight back by either the management of Dangote refinery and/or sympathizers on their ordeals in the hands of government officials including NNPCL, Tinubu’s Malta-based refinery and blending plants and the crude round tripping was exposed. What followed were plethora of denials, cover ups, and even threats to everybody that dared commented on the Malta refinery/Blending Plant expose` including my very self.
We moved from there to the issue of NNPC insisting on Dangote buying its crude in dollars claiming that it is the global practice. Dangote cried wolf and all of us were railroaded to cry on its behalf. Then the government agreed to sell the crude to the refinery in Naira but gave October 1st as the earliest date NNPC will be able to commence supply of crude to the refinery.
Fast forward to the refinery churning out petrol. Few days to the refinery’s announced debut of its petrol to the Nigerian market and Dangote selling to the Nigerian market, viaam, the government went ahead to release an upwardly reviewed price template for petrol across the country. It was a perfect plot to get Dangote to sell the product at a higher price than it should (which will give NNPC a window of profit margin when they eventually import fuel). Consumers’ interests were sacrificed on the altar of NNPC incompetence and corruption.
In a dramatic turn of events, the government now forced Dangote not to sell petrol directly to Marketers and that the company should allow NNPC to be the only off-taker of PMS(petrol) from the plant. From there we moved to the issue of how much NNPC pays for the petrol it off- takes from the plant and who should actually be blamed for the current high price that the NNPC is asking Nigerians to pay for the petrol it gets from the Dangote Refinery that’s in Lekki, Lagos.
Dangote is not allowed to announce his price to the public, he is not allowed to sell to Marketers directly- he is technically caged. What kind of a thing is this?
They set up two traps for him: the first was Quality, and the second was Price.
For the Quality, they aimed to tarnish the refinery’s reputation by portraying its products as substandard and the refinery itself as inferior. They planned a major propaganda campaign, starting with local media and extending internationally, to spread this negative narrative.
The government masked their true intentions by claiming they were protecting Nigerians from potential extortion, alleging that Dangote Refinery might set excessively high prices. Their goal was to make Dangote’s fuel price artificially high, allowing oil marketers to raise their prices to the same level, over 1000 Naira, which the government and NNPC have been targeting since the current administration took office. They planned to then blame Dangote Refinery for the price hike.
Once again, Dangote managed to evade the trap. He quickly launched a media campaign before the scheme could unfold, educating Nigerians about the situation. He emphasized that while Dangote Refinery controls the oil quality and guarantees it, they have no control over pricing.
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He made it clear that NNPC is responsible for setting the prices and that any price seen is determined by NNPC, not Dangote.
The question all well –meaning Nigerians should have been asking is: where is Nigeria’s substantive Petroleum Minister who also doubles as the President and Commander-in-Chief, in all these show of shame by the state-owned oil concern against a tangible feat (Dangote Refinery) that could have called for celebration in this country?
Truth be told, Dangote refinery has become an albatross and a pain in the neck of those who refine Nigerian crude in Malta and import it to Nigeria and collect subsidy payments for their efforts. The criminal oil cabal in Nigeria is trying to bend Dangote refinery to shift ground or join them to maintain status quo ante, pure and simple!
All the bickering by the NNPCL and Tinubu’s government boils down to a battle of Appropriate pricing of Petroleum products in Nigeria; breaking the bondage of oil cabals in Nigeria; and putting a permanent stop to oil subsidy payments to criminal petroleum products importers for subsidy payments; conserving foreign exchange for Nigeria; creating value for money; and opening up the nation’s oil and gas sector to new and credible entrants.
The battle is also about foiling insider abuses by top NNPCL management and their cronies at the Presidency in the useless, meaningless, and dubious turnaround maintenance services of Nigeria’s three and half exiting nameplate refineries in the past years without any of them functioning.
The fight is real. It is about who controls Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in the 21st century. Dangote refinery took them unawares and the cabal is not ready to give up without a dirty fight by conspiracies and sabotage.
The current harassments of the Leadership of the NLC may not be unconnected with the ongoing oil war between Dangote refinery and the government of Nigeria with the recent increase in petrol prices that NLC and Nigerians are challenging. Nigerians are waiting for a showdown either ways.
In all these back and forth exchanges between Dangote Refinery and the NNPC, why has President Tinubu not uttered a word to at least douse tension and reassure Nigerians of his sincerity and neutrality in all the fiery darts that’s been flying around?
Nigerians are not all fools! How do you explain that in October 2022 the NNPC Retail Limited bought Oando filling stations and assets for over USD324 million and by August 2024, the same NNPC Retail Ltd, dissolves itself and hands over its affairs to OVH, owners of the same Oando? And then by September 2024, the NNPC is the sole buyer of Dangote Petrol and sole determinant of how much Nigerians in different parts of the country pay for a litre of petrol.
Is it not clear who the real wholesale off-taker/buyer of the petrol coming out from Dangote Refinery is? Is it not NNPC Retail?
And who is NNPC Retail that is now deciding how much Nigerians pay for Dangote petrol? Is it not Oando?
So except there is something we don’t yet understand very well, the winner in this shameful dance is Tinubu the petroleum minister and owner of Oando/OVH and the losers are Nigerians including those who think they are better off than the majority of the masses. And I pray for NNPC: May you not abandon your three and half Refineries to become a fuel Marketer/Distributor, Amin!
(IFEANYI IZEZE writes from Abuja and can be reached on: iizeze@yahoo.com; 234-8033043009)
