Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, expressed surprise over ongoing fuel shortages, given his company’s refinery’s capacity to meet domestic demand. Speaking to State House journalists on Tuesday, Dangote revealed that the refinery has produced a surplus of 500 million liters of petrol that retailers have yet to purchase.
The billionaire businessman made these comments following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and the Implementation Committee on the Sale of Crude and Refined Petroleum Products. He questioned the rationale behind the persistent fuel scarcity despite the ample supply.
“We have enough supply of crude; we can produce much more than 30 million litres every day. At full capacity, we can even supply whatever is being consumed.
“As we speak today, we have 500 million litres in our tanks. With 500 million litres in our tanks. This can take the country for more than 12 days with no imports or production; so, we are very ready.
“And you know, I’m also putting my name on the line by giving Mr President my word that, yes, we will be able to supply the market minimum of 30 million per day, and we’ll be ramping up production. So, we’re ready. We’re more than ready.
Speaking further on the shortages and long queues at the filling stations, the African richest man, said that marketers were not coming forward to lift fuel from his refinery.
“One thing that you have to understand is that we are producers. I have a refinery. I’m not in the business of retail. If I’m in the business of retail then you hold me responsible. But what I’m saying is that the retailers should please come forward and pick, if they don’t come forward and pick, what do you want me to do?
“So, I don’t expect either the NNPC or the marketers to stop importing, but the truth is that they should come and pick because we have what they need. And you know, as they remove, I will be pumping. I don’t know whether you understand what it takes to keep half a billion litres inside our tank.
“It’s costing me money every day. If I can collect the naira, I can actually charge somebody 32 percent in interest. Right now, that’s what I’m losing. And we’re talking about 500 million litres, you know, I mean, we don’t print money.
“But the issue is that if they come and collect the product, then you will not see any queues in the filling stations.
“We have what it takes for them to come and collect. We are not retailers. We also don’t have trucks to send the products to the filling stations.
“We have a factory; we have where they can load. They should come and pick what we have… they have been doing that with importation. So, if they’ve been doing that with importation, if it’s true, they are doing 55 million litres, I see no reason why they won’t come and collect our own and distribute”, Dangote said.
