Tensions appear to be escalating once again between Nigeria’s leading oil marketers and the newly commissioned Dangote Petroleum Refinery, as both sides position themselves in an intensifying contest for supremacy in the country’s downstream oil market.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, has sounded the alarm over what he describes as a coordinated campaign of sabotage targeting his $20 billion refinery, which he says continues to battle for survival amid entrenched resistance from powerful oil sector interests.
Speaking at a recent engagement, Dangote revealed that efforts to undermine the refinery began well before it commenced full operations—and persist even now—driven by actors he characterized as “oil cabals” with vested interests in maintaining Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products. Despite the ongoing resistance, the billionaire industrialist expressed confidence in the refinery’s long-term viability, vowing not to be deterred by the pressures from within the industry.
Insider findings indicate that Dangote’s remarks were provoked by the continued large-scale importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, and the reluctance of major fuel marketers to engage in bulk purchases from his Lagos-based refinery. This is despite the facility’s rapidly increasing output and enhanced refining capacity, which was intended to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign fuel.
Data drawn from midstream and downstream operational documents as well as vessel movement records from maritime intelligence firm Blue Sea Maritime, shows that petroleum marketers imported approximately 2.57 billion litres of PMS between March 1 and May 9, 2025.
In March alone, Nigeria brought in 755.7 million litres of petrol—averaging 25.19 million litres per day. Imports surged even further in April, reaching around 1.47 billion litres. The first 10 days of May saw an additional 331.33 million litres entering the country, underlining the persistent dominance of foreign supply despite Dangote’s growing domestic production.
With an average landing cost of ₦948 per litre, industry estimates suggest that PMS importers may have spent as much as ₦2.42 trillion on fuel within just 70 days. This comes on top of the ₦4.51 trillion reportedly spent on imports between October 2024 and February 2025.
Since late last year, Dangote has repeatedly raised concerns over what he terms a systemic sabotage by vested interests aiming to frustrate Nigeria’s journey toward energy self-sufficiency. His ongoing struggle underscores the deep-rooted complexities in reforming a sector historically shaped by opaque import regimes and powerful economic stakeholders.
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He specifically mentioned that some international oil companies were sabotaging his investment by denying the facility adequate crude supply despite the domestic crude supply obligation.
Dangote had alleged that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority was issuing licences to marketers to import substandard petroleum products into the country.
To fight this, the facility approached a federal high court to stop the regulatory authority from issuing import licences to marketers.
The court is yet to rule on the request.
At a point last year, Dangote said he regretted building the refinery, saying the mafias in the oil and gas sector were stronger than those of drugs.
“In a system where, for 35 years, people are used to counting good money, and all of a sudden, they see that the days of counting that money have come to an end, you don’t expect them to pray for you. Of course, you expect them to fight back.
“And I think that is the process that we’re now really going through. But the truth is that, yes, the country, the sub-region, and also the continent of sub-Saharan Africa, need this refinery. So, you expect them to fight through non-supply of crude, non-purchase of the product, but I think it’s all temporary. We’ll get there,” Dangote stated.
But giving an update at an investor forum in Lagos last week, Dangote said the fight for the survival of his $20bn refinery was still on.
He emphasized that certain individuals who have long profited significantly from government-subsidized oil imports into Nigeria are now actively working to undermine the 650,000-barrels-per-day refinery located in Lekki, Lagos.
He declared that the battle was ongoing and far from over, but affirmed that he had spent his entire life facing challenges and was fully committed and absolutely confident that he would ultimately prevail.
He went on to clarify that the opposition to the refinery’s operations is coming not from the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, but rather from influential oil marketers and traders with vested interests in maintaining the status quo.