Dangote alleges plot to dump substandard PMS on Nigerians

The Dangote Petroleum

has drawn attention

to plots, allegedly by

energy players, to import

substandard petrol, PMS,

and dump it on Nigerians.

This, the refinery

giant said, will ultimately

compromise the health of

Nigerians and damage the

integrity of their vehicles.

A statement by the

Chief Branding and

Communication Officer,

Anthony Chiejina on

Sunday said “if anyone

claims they can land PMS at

a price cheaper than what

we are selling, then they

are importing substandard

products and conniving

with international traders

to dump low quality

products into the country

without concern for the

health of Nigerians or the

longevity of their vehicles,”

Dangote Refinery said.

The refinery said it was

constrained to respond to

the recent misinformation

being circulated by

IPMAN, PETROAN and

other associations.

“Both organisations

claim they can import

PMS at lower than what is

being sold by the Dangote

Refinery. We benchmark

our prices against

international prices and

we believe our prices are

competitive relative to the

price of imports.”

According to Dangote,

“post deregulation, NNPC

set the pace by selling

to domestic marketers

at N971 per litre for sale

into ships, and at N990

for sale into trucks. This

set the benchmark for our

pricing and we have even

gone lower to sell at N960

per litre for sale into ships

while maintaining N990

per litre for sale into trucks.

“In good faith, and in

the interest of the country,

we commenced sales at

these prices without clarity

on the exchange rate that

we will use to pay for the

crude purchased.

“At the same time,

an international trading

company has recently

hired a depot facility next

to the Dangote Refinery,

with the objective of using

it to blend substandard

products that will be

dumped into the market

to compete with Dangote

Refinery’s higher quality

products.

“This is detrimental

to domestic refining in

Nigeria. We should point

out that it is not unusual

for countries to protect

their domestic industries

in order to provide jobs

and grow the economy”.

Dangote called on the

public to “disregard the

deliberate disinformation

being circulated by agents

of people who prefer for us

to continue to export jobs

and import poverty.