Dangote Refinery has accused the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) of importing substandard petroleum products and inflating their prices, posing risks to both consumers and vehicles.
In a statement signed by Group Chief Branding and Communication Officer Anthony Chiejina, the refinery emphasized that its fuel prices are competitively benchmarked against international rates, countering IPMAN and PETROAN’s claims of importing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at lower costs.
“We benchmark our prices against global rates and maintain competitiveness. Claims of cheaper imports likely indicate substandard products, colluding with traders to flood Nigeria with low-quality goods, disregarding health impacts and vehicle longevity,” Chiejina said.
Dangote Refinery also criticized regulatory testing capabilities, noting that regulators lack the lab facilities to detect these substandard imports. It stressed that its prices align with Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) regulations, selling PMS to ships at N960 per litre and trucks at the regulated N990, below NNPC’s stipulated price of N971.
The statement further alleged that an international trading firm has recently rented a nearby depot to blend low-quality products aimed at competing with Dangote’s premium offerings.
To protect Nigeria’s refining industry, Dangote Refinery urged the government to adopt protective measures similar to those in the U.S. and Europe, safeguarding local refineries from inferior imports.
