Dangote escalates dispute with Nigeria’s oil regulator, calls for corruption probe
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has intensified his dispute with the country’s oil regulator, accusing authorities of enabling cheap fuel imports that undermine domestic refining and calling for a corruption investigation into the head of the downstream regulator.
Speaking at his 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery in Lagos, Africa’s largest, Dangote said continued fuel imports threaten jobs, investment and Nigeria’s energy security, despite the country being Africa’s top crude oil producer, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
“You don’t use imports to checkmate domestic potential,” Dangote told reporters, arguing that Nigeria is exporting jobs and value while struggling to industrialise at home.
Dangote called for an official inquiry into Farouk Ahmed, head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, citing concerns over alleged spending that he said exceeds legitimate earnings. Ahmed did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The regulator has previously accused Dangote’s refinery of seeking a monopoly and argued that local production cannot meet Nigeria’s daily fuel demand of 55 million litres. Last month, it urged President Bola Tinubu to abandon plans to restrict refined fuel imports for that reason.
Dangote disputes the regulator’s claims, saying it misrepresents the refinery’s capacity by citing fuel offtake figures rather than actual production data. He also said authorities have failed to enforce rules requiring crude oil to be supplied to domestic refineries before exports.
As a result, Dangote said the refinery currently imports about 100 million barrels of crude oil annually, a figure expected to double following expansion due to limited local supply.
Despite regulatory tensions, Dangote said the refinery — built to end Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel and save billions in foreign exchange — would continue expanding and was “too big to fail”.
He also reiterated plans to list the company on Nigeria’s stock exchange and pay dividends in U.S. dollars, saying the move would allow ordinary Nigerians to “own a piece of the economy”.
Nigeria has long relied on fuel imports due to decades of underperforming state-owned refineries.
Similar news
