Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has alleged that certain individuals, described as "oil cabals," are plotting to bomb the Dangote Refinery due to its initiative to refine crude oil and supply petrol to Nigerians.
Ensurednews previously reported that refinery management accused international oil companies and other oil interests of obstructing local crude procurement.
Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, recently accused international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria of deliberate efforts to undermine the success of the new Dangote refinery.
He alleged that the IOCs were inflating the cost of local crude by $6 above market rates, making it economically unfeasible for the refinery to purchase locally.
“The IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating our efforts to buy the local crude," Edwin stated. " “It seems that the IOCs’ objective is to ensure that our petroleum refinery fails. It is either they are deliberately asking for a ridiculous and humongous premium or they simply state that crude is not available. “At some point, we paid $6 over and above the market price."
He highlighted instances where the refinery paid a substantial premium above market prices, impacting production output and necessitating costly imports.
Edwin expressed concerns that the actions of IOCs perpetuate Nigeria's reliance on imported refined products, thereby benefiting their home countries economically.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of Dangote Industries Limited, addressed these challenges during a recent refinery tour in Ibeji-Lekki, Lagos.
Dangote assured journalists that the refinery's petrol supply, initially slated for July, would now commence in August 2024, following resolutions with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the federal government on crude supply issues.
“We plan to list the refinery and petrochemical before the end of the first quarter of next year, ” he stated. “The issue of crude has been settled last week. But we hope that the IOCs will respect it, ” he added.
Speaking on Channels TV's Politics Today program on Sunday, Fayose revealed, "I visited somebody and in the course, somebody was calling from the Dangote refinery and was raising an alarm with the intention to bomb the Dangote refinery. Because there are institutions who believe that the effort of the Federal Government to give crude to Dangote to be able to produce and bring the cost of petrol down. The cabals in the import industry of product. The people who are handlers of it, are saying that would never work as long as they exit because that would take the feeding bottle from us."
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