Subsidy or Sabotage? Civil Society Groups clash with Oil Marketers, back Dangote Refinery

Keep up with the latest news and be part of our weekly giveaways and airtime sharing; follow our WhatsApp channel for more updates. Click to Follow us

The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria (COCSON) and the Nigerian Interfaith Forum have called on the Federal Government to strengthen the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to encourage the growth of local refineries. The groups also voiced strong support for Dangote Refinery while rejecting what they described as exploitative demands from oil marketers under the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN).

DAPPMAN had recently urged Dangote Refinery to make fuel supply more accessible and affordable. Speaking on Channels Television’s *The Morning Brief* on Wednesday, the association’s spokesperson, Ikem Ohia, clarified, “We are businessmen; he is a businessman. We’re not asking for subsidies. We went into negotiations and are still negotiating to see how he can bridge the gap.”

At a press briefing in Abuja, COCSON President Ibrahim Suleiman dismissed the marketers’ demands, warning they could drag Nigeria back into the era of “subsidy fraud”. He said, “Their demand is self-serving; N75 per litre for coastal freight and operation cost, translating to N1.5 trillion, is nothing but greed. Dangote refinery has exported over 3.2M metric tonnes of refined products in three months, proving its capacity. Meanwhile, DAPPMAN imported 3.6 million metric tonnes, promoting dumping and sabotaging Nigeria’s economy

Suleiman stressed that civil society would resist any attempt to revive subsidies. “We demand that the Federal Government and National Assembly strengthen the Petroleum Industrial Act to prioritise and protect local refineries over importation cartels and empower anti-monopoly laws to dismantle cartels that prey on Nigerians. We call on Nigerians to boycott any marketer or depot that aligns with DAPPMAN’s exploitative scheme.”

On Tuesday, billionaire investor Femi Otedola weighed in, urging marketers to restructure and adapt to market realities rather than oppose Dangote’s model. He advised them to consider taking over the Port Harcourt Refinery instead.

Also commenting, Billy Gilly-Harris, President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, noted that Dangote’s 4,000 trucks were not sufficient to ensure steady fuel supply nationwide.

Dangote Refinery, however, maintained that it would not absorb marketers’ logistics costs. In a recent statement, the refinery dismissed DAPPMAN’s subsidy claim as “false and unfounded”, insisting that it sells products strictly on the basis of production costs and regulated margins. It added that marketers, like other industry players, must cover their own transportation expenses, pointing out that subsidies had already been abolished by the Federal Government since May 2023

Please don’t forget to “Allow the notification” so you will be the first to get our gist when we publish it. 
Drop your comment in the section below, and don’t forget to share the post