Dangote halts fuel discount scheme amid fraud allegations
Dangote allowing its partners to receive volumes above the amount paid for, so that they can sell at a particular rate and refund them. This was to ensure circulation at retail stations. But these marketers would receive the products and sell them immediately to unregistered marketers. So they have suspended the scheme and are selling at the normal rate, but they said it would be restructured.”
Recent market checks by our correspondent using data from petroleumprice.ng revealed that non-affiliated marketers, who rely solely on imported fuel, have continued to sell at the same price range as Dangote’s registered marketers, despite not benefiting from the refinery’s subsidised product scheme.
Last week, at least five privately-owned depots were observed to have aligned their ex-depot prices with the Dangote refinery’s latest price adjustment, selling at an average of N820 per litre, a drop from the N835 per litre they offered at the start of the week.
While the Dangote refinery did not name any of the defaulting marketers, checks show that its current list of strategic partners includes MRS Oil, Heyden Petroleum, Ardova Plc, Hyde Energy, Optima Energy, and Techno Oil. Others are TotalEnergies, Garima Petroleum, Sunbeth Energies, Sobaz Nigeria Ltd, Virgin Forest Energy, Sixxco Oil Ltd, NU Synergy Ltd, and Soroman Nigeria Ltd.
When contacted, the group head of corporate communications, Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, requested more time to give an official reaction to the issue, stressing that the refinery is not involved in any squabble with marketers.
