The Dangote Group has responded to recent allegations from petroleum industry associations regarding the pricing and quality of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from its refinery, saying its products are competitively priced compared to imported alternatives.
In a statement issued by Anthony Chiejina, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Dangote addressed claims from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), which suggested that imported PMS could be sold at lower prices than those offered by Dangote.
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The company contended that these assertions are misleading and could involve inferior products that pose risks to consumers and vehicles.
“We benchmark our prices against international rates and believe they are competitive when compared to import prices,” Chiejina stated.
He warned that any attempts to undercut Dangote’s pricing would likely rely on substandard imports that threaten the integrity of the market.
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Chiejina also criticized the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for insufficient testing facilities, which could enable low-quality imports to infiltrate the market without detection.
Dangote Refinery highlighted its commitment to affordability by pricing its PMS lower than the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) post-deregulation benchmark.
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The company offers PMS at N960 per liter for ships and N990 for trucks, compared to NNPC’s prices of N971 and N990, respectively.
Additionally, Chiejina expressed concern over an international trading company that plans to set up a depot near Dangote’s facilities, intending to blend lower-quality products to create unfair competition.
He warned that such practices jeopardize Nigeria’s domestic refining sector, essential for economic growth, job creation, and reducing import dependence.
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“Countries worldwide protect their domestic industries to foster growth and innovation,” Chiejina noted, drawing parallels to protective tariffs in the U.S. and Europe on electric vehicles and microchips.
Reaffirming its mission to provide high-quality and affordable PMS to Nigerians, Dangote urged the public to ignore any “deliberate disinformation” aimed at undermining the refinery’s reputation.
The statement emphasized the company’s commitment to safeguarding local jobs and protecting the economy from “imported poverty.”
