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Tag: Dangote

  • Import licenses: Court dismisses NNPCL’s objection, okays Dangote’s suit for hearing

    Import licenses: Court dismisses NNPCL’s objection, okays Dangote’s suit for hearing

    ABUJA — A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed as lacking in merit, an application the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, filed to query its jurisdiction to hear the suit that was brought against it by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.

    The suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024 seeks to nullify the licenses the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, issued to enable the NNPCL and other marketers, to import refined petroleum products into the country.

    Other defendants in the matter are AYM Shafa Limited; A. A. Rano Limited; T. Time Petroleum Limited; 2015 Petroleum Limited; as well as Matrix Petroleum Services Limited.

    The plaintiff, Dangote Refinery, had insisted that it was wrong to issue licences for importation of petroleum products such as Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Jet Fuel (aviation turbine fuel) into Nigeria when there is no shortfall in its own local production.

    Aside from praying the court to award N100 billion in damages against the NMDPRA for issuing import licenses, the plaintiff applied for an order of injunction to restrain the 1st defendant (NMDPRA) from further issuing and/or renewing import licenses to the 2nd to 7th defendants or other companies for the purpose of importing petroleum products.

    Meanwhile, before the matter could be heard, the NNPCL filed a preliminary objection to challenge the competence of the suit and the jurisdiction of the court to hear it.

    Arguing that the plaintiff sued a non-existing party, it noted that what was listed as the 2nd defendant in the matter was ‘NNPC’, an entity that is currently non-existent.

    Consequently, NNPCL urged the court to strike out its name from the suit, even as it challenged the locus standi (legal right) of the plaintiff to file the action it described as “premature.”

    “The 2nd defendant is not a competent party. The plaintiff’s suit is incompetent. This honourable court lacks the jurisdiction to hear this suit,” the NNPCL argued.

    However, in his ruling on Tuesday, Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed the objection for want of merit.n

    The court further granted an application the plaintiff filed to amend the suit to reflect the proper name of the NNPCL.

    In a related ruling, the court dismissed an application the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, filed to be joined as a defendant in the suit.

    The court held the the dispute before it could be effectively determined without the FCCPC which it said was not a relevant or necessary party.

  • Dangote, Amosun bicker over demolition of cement factory in Ogun

    Dangote, Amosun bicker over demolition of cement factory in Ogun

    ABEOKUTA — THE President of Dangote Industries, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, yesterday, alleged that his cement plant in Itori, Ewekoro local government area of Ogun State was demolished twice by the Governor Ibikunle Amosun administration, including the factory’s fencing during the second demolition.

    However, in a swift reaction to the allegation, the former Ogun State governor said that Dangote does not possess requisite approvals for constructing the structures he alleged were demolished.

    Speaking when he visited his new Cement factory located in Itori Ewekoro local government area of the state, Dangote commended Governor Dapo Abiodun for persuading him to return and resume construction of the plant, which is now nearing completion and expected to commence operations next year.

    Dangote said: “I think it is good we have it on record that the (cement) factory we are visiting now in Itori, you know it was because of His Excellency (Dapo Abiodun) that we came back.

    “That factory was demolished twice. We started, and Governor Amosun demolished it. The second time, we started again; he demolished not only the factory, including the fencing, so we left.

    “But, right now, we are coming because of His Excellency my brother, Prince Dapo Abiodun. We are now back.”
    He said the facility will feature two 6,000t/day clinker production lines, covering limestone crushing, cement packaging, and shipping, further solidifying Ogun State’s status as an industrial powerhouse.

    He said: “Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with 52.0Mta capacity across the continent, of which almost 70% of our production is based in Nigeria. Our Obajana plant in Kogi State is currently the largest in Africa with 16.25Mta of capacity across five lines; the Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12Mta; Gboko plant also in Benue state has 4Mta; and Okpella plant in Edo State has 3Mta. By the time we deliver Abidjan and Itori, we will be at 61mm tons per annum next year.

    “It is on record that our investment in cement manufacturing made Nigeria self-sufficient in the product, effectively ending importation and marking its transformation into a cement exporting nation.

    “We repeated the feat in the production of fertilizer as Nigeria is now self-sufficient, with the surplus going for the export market thereby generating foreign exchange earnings for the country.

    “We rolled out automotive gas oil (AGO) in January 2024 and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in September 2024 from our 650,000 barrels per day petroleum refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki. Other products from the refinery include aviation fuels, LPG, and carbon black.

    “The refinery can meet domestic demand for all refined petroleum products. Today, we have repeated the cement story, where a country that was once a net importer of a product, is now exporting refined petroleum products.

    “Additionally, we have also commenced the production of Polypropylene at our petrochemical complex.
    “At Dangote Industries, our goal is to make Nigeria self-sufficient in whatever we consume, because we have the natural resources for the domestic manufacturing of these products and commodities.

    “This is tested by the influx of many manufacturing firms setting up their plants here. I especially would like to commend specially, my good friend and brother, the Governor of Ogun State for your vision, and deliberate policies that focus on attracting enterprises through immense support for the private sector which is now attracting investors”.

    “We have also received tremendous support and encouragement from both the traditional ruler and the good people of Itori land, which enabled the speedy takeoff of the project.

    “Similarly, we enjoyed such tremendous support from the traditional rulers in Yewa Land and host communities of Ibese Cement Plant. We are grateful for such an overwhelming show of partnership and support and ask that this same level of support be extended to the operations of the plant.

    “Nigeria is a growing economy; the developmental challenges are quite enormous and require concerted efforts to overcome them. This is why private companies should complement the government’s efforts. It is in this light that we, at Dangote Industries, continue to demonstrate our belief in this nation and its people and make investments that are targeted towards transforming the economy of the nation through our work in Ogun State as we have done elsewhere.”

    I won’t be bullied or blackmailed — Amosun

    While reacting to the allegation, Senator Amosun, who spoke through his Media Aide, Lanre Akinwale said that Dangote did not possess requisite approvals for constructing the structures he alleged were demolished.

    The former governor said: “We want to appeal to Alhaji Dangote to avail the public of the requisite approvals for the construction of the structures he alleged were demolished.

    “This will, at least, help the public to put the issue in proper context and for us to know what exactly his grouse is.

    “For us, as a government, we believed that there could not be two governments in a state, and Dangote, therefore, could not operate above the law or under a different set of laws.

    “It is important to note that at the commissioning of his Ibese Cement factory, Dangote praised the Amosun administration to high heavens for its promotion of investments in Ogun State and for facilitating the commencement of the cement factory after eight years of frustration as he then alleged by other administrations.

    “Dangote is just one of the many ongoing concerns in Ogun State, and the Amosun administration is on record to have attracted over 500 companies to the state and was acknowledged by the World Bank as one of the top three states ensuring Ease-of-Doing-Business in Nigeria.

    “While we will not give vent to this obvious mischief as it is deliberate, we will advise Alhaji Dangote to furnish the public with details of the land acquisition with relevant planning approvals, and let us engage in a constructive conversation therefrom.”

    “However, while we will wait to hear from him, we would like to state that not all Nigerians can be compromised, bullied or blackmailed. The notion that everyone has a price is an expression applicable only to people with weak foundations and questionable upbringing. This is why some of us will continue to uphold high standards in all our undertakings, irrespective of whose ox is gored.”

  • NNPCL and Dangote are proudly Nigerian

    NNPCL and Dangote are proudly Nigerian

    We see the ongoing controversy over the refined products of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and Dangote Refinery, DR, as a celebration of the full restoration of petroleum products refining capacity to the Nigerian domestic market after decades of dependence on importation.

    In August 2024, Dangote Refinery, the 650,000 barrels per day largest single-train refining factory in the world, started test-running the sale of its products to marketers. The NNPCL, under Mele Kyari, pleasantly shocked most Nigerians a few months later in November 2024 when it also beat the odds and reopened its refurbished Port Harcourt Refinery. It immediately set its eyes on the completion of its Warri and Kaduna refineries.

    For the first time in years, the last Christmas and New Year season went without fuel scarcity. As our refineries continue to expand their capacities, the sufferings our people routinely underwent will hopefully become things of the past.

    The controversy arose when some social media influencers started comparing the perceived qualities of Dangote and NNPCL products. Of particular note was the viral social media post where an individual claimed his experiment proved that Dangote petrol “lasted longer”. That is a complete fallacy.

    There are peculiarities of our renascent refined products market that we need to take note of and be properly informed. In the first place, there is no market “war” between Dangote and NNPCL. Though they are private or independent businesses, the Nigerian people through the Federal Government, own shares in them. They equally belong to all of us. They are proudly Nigerian.

    It is totally wrong to say only a particular company or select group of marketers pick their products from any domestic refiner. The NNPCL has already informed the public that even their outlets in some parts of the country, especially the Lagos area, sell Dangote products because it is cheaper than coming all the way to Port Harcourt to load. Pretty much every marketer in that part of the country buy and sell Dangote. They also mainly patronise NNPCL for the same reason in the Port Harcourt areas.

    We strongly believe that the laws and realities of the marketplace will force all products refined in Nigeria, including those of the oncoming refineries, to find their niches and thrive within and outside Nigeria.

    We must desist from manufacturing frictions among providers of essential goods and services. This hurts the economy. We may unwittingly be straying into the territory of economic sabotage, which carries a price within the law. The market is an open space, and people should feel free to exploit it without being hoodwinked or cajoled.

    We also call on the Federal Government to rehabilitate our pipeline networks and depots. This will bring down costs and foster ease of doing business in the petroleum sector.

  • Ikhide’s Hoax and Campaign of Calumny against Dangote Group

    Ikhide’s Hoax and Campaign of Calumny against Dangote Group

    Erasmus Ikhide over the last 15 years has done hatchet jobs in the media. He picks his targets randomly. For example at a point he was appointed by Rauf Aregbesola who was then the governor of Osun State to work in his media unit and he sang the then governor’s praises to high heavens until the appointment was terminated, and then he turned his sword against his former employer.

    He did exactly the same thing with Senator Adams Oshiomhole who was then governor of Edo State. He was one of the media hands who ran errands in the office of the then Special Adviser on Media, Kassim Afegbua.
    As is consistent with his character, he was not Oshiomhole’s attack dog for long before turning his teeth on his master and calling him names.
    For Ikhide, once you stop paying him, he looks for your enemy to pay him to attack you.

    Meanwhile he has another method. He could just look at a politician he believes is vulnerable to attacks either because he is up for reelection or any such situation and immediately begin a barrage of attacks, hoping that the politician will call him and negotiate. Most of them do.

    But he confronted a stubborn one in the person of Mr. Godwin Obaseki in the months leading to his reelection in 2020. He huffed and he puffed but thick-skinned Obaseki paid him no attention. Although his lies against Obaseki were painful, but you don’t reward a blackmailer because that reinforces his resolve to persist in the illicit trade.

    Recently, Ikhide has embarked in a novel mission in his dark and perfidious trade. He has decided to extend his shameful merchandise to the private sector. Like the ambitious fellow that he is, he decided to target the biggest fish in that pond.
    Ikhide must have imagined that Aliko Dangote and his business is bigger than many States combined, so if he can arm twist some governors, then why not Dangote. He will soon find out how wrong he is.

    Unfortunately for him, his lack of experience and condition of being only half literate makes it hard for him to understand the vast difference between people serving the people as public servants and those who have never had any reason to administer public resources, like Aliko Dangote.
    When one gleans through the drivel by the upstart, Erasmus Ikhide, couched to detract from the success of Dangote Refinery commissioning in Lekki, Lagos, it is immediately clear that he is on a mission to obfuscate facts and procure for himself another day’s bread.

    For the many people who have had to deal with Ikhide’s serial mudslinging, he comes across as a lowly rated pen pusher who is in the habit of concocting gibberish to gain attention, smear his target and negotiate for settlements.
    A pathetic writer, Ikhide’s reputation as a blackmailer precedes him, but it would have been tolerable if he was able to string words in an intelligible manner, in his inordinate quest to rip his targets off.

    It is embarrassing that he struggles with English language – the vehicle for his media machinations. In the first paragraph of his windy and incoherent piece targeted at the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, Ikhide insults the intelligence of the reader by writing the plural of foot as foots, instead of ‘feet.’ These infantile grammatical blunders litter the write-up, making it largely unintelligible.

    He is a serial blackmailer, whose only job is to cobble lies and falsehoods together and seek juicy targets and then publish poorly written pieces to force them to the negotiation table, where he makes demands of them so he can shield his pen.
    But the unwarranted attack on Dangote is over-stretching his reach. Not only did he deliberately attempt to reference a circular to give credibility to the lies and alternative truths he intended to pass off as facts, he attempted to single out Dangote as the principal cause of Nigeria’s economic challenges – a rather ridiculous argument.

    There is no gainsaying that Dangote is unarguably Africa’s bravest businessman who treads where others flee. This much is evident in his unwavering drive to industrialize Africa and doing so unapologetically.

    For anyone who has stepped foot on the Dangote Refinery complex, it is abundantly clear that the man who dreamt of building such an imposing complex is not one to dwell on the inanities that Ikhide’s lazy mind conjured in his pitiable write-up. It is evidently the stuff of small minds of a similar ilk.

    As anyone in Nigeria will attest, there is healthy competition in all of the sectors that the Dangote Group is involved with and the necessary regulatory oversights are carried out by relevant government agencies to ensure that players abide by the rules. It is only in Ikhide’s mind that competitors do not exist across various sectors of the Nigerian economy.

    The reference that the Dangote Refinery is not traded in the books of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) puts Ikhide as one with very skewed understanding of basic economics. If he were barely economically literate, he would know that it is not possible to trade the shares of a privately-held company on the bourse.

    So unintelligent is Ikhide that he listed companies which Dangote never owned or had long exited from, exhibiting his ignorance and malicious nature.
    In his chameleonic manner, he quickly changed his name from Erasmus Ikhide to Dele Alabi, obviously a pseudonym. What a deceitful soul!

    The advice to Ikhide is that he should get a decent job and stop the embarrassing play of seeking out targets to fire at with his grammatically-challenged missives. The faster he does that, the better for the polity – and his village people.

  • JUST IN: Tinubu, Dangote, others hold talks on naira-for-crude policy

    JUST IN: Tinubu, Dangote, others hold talks on naira-for-crude policy

    President Bola Tinubu is currently receiving a briefing from the Implementation Committee on Crude Oil and Refined Products Sales in Local Currency at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, who chairs the committee, is leading the small delegation comprising the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, and the Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Mele Kyari.

    Our correspondent spotted the committee members arriving at the Council Chamber at minutes last 02:00 pm.

    In early October, the Federal Government began implementing a policy to sell crude oil to the Dangote Refinery in naira rather than U.S. dollars.

    This followed the Federal Executive Council’s approval which, the FG says, will stabilize fuel prices domestically and strengthen Nigeria’s currency by cutting down on the need for dollars in crude oil transactions.

    The move also allows the NNPC to supply crude oil in local currency, with Dangote’s refinery as the pilot for this strategy.

    By trading in naira, the government aims to improve the availability of petroleum products and decrease import-related costs.

    The Dangote Refinery, which requires significant crude supplies annually, is expected to reciprocate by providing petrol and diesel in naira, simplifying currency transactions and lessening the economic strain of fuel imports.

    The FG said the approach will reduce FOREX demands by up to 40 per cent as key institutions, including the Central Bank of Nigeria and AfreximBank, support the transition.

    However, in September, the NNPCL and the Dangote Refinery were embroiled in pricing disputes.

    The NNPCL claimed it bought petrol from Dangote at a high price of N898 per litre, a rate that Dangote’s representatives called “misleading,” stating that official pricing terms were yet to be finalised.

    At Tuesday’s meeting, President May likely intervene in the simmering dispute between the two companies.