The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has criticised the Dangote Refinery over its plan to reduce petrol prices, warning that the move could destabilise the market.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the private refinery recently announced that from Monday, September 15, petrol would sell at N841 per litre in Lagos and the South-West and N851 in Abuja, Edo, and Kwara, down from N865.
The reduction will also coincide with the launch of its direct fuel distribution scheme.
But, in a statement issued on Saturday, DAPPMAN Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, said portraying the refinery’s repeated price cuts as patriotic gestures ignored their timing and impact on other market participants.
“Claims that repeated fuel price reductions by the Dangote Refinery are patriotic gestures ignore their timing and market impact. These reductions were often strategically timed when other importers had active cargoes at sea or in tanks, creating price shocks that undermined competition and imposed financial strain on fellow market participants, including the refinery’s own domestic customers,” Adewole said.
He further alleged that the refinery offered lower prices to international buyers while quoting higher rates to domestic offtakers, a practice he described as contradictory to public claims of prioritising Nigerians.
“Even more concerning is the refinery’s pattern of offering lower prices to international buyers while quoting higher rates to local offtakers. This contradicts public-facing claims of prioritising Nigerians and places unnecessary burden on domestic businesses already operating under tight margins,” he added.
On the refinery’s ongoing dispute with the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Adewole said DAPPMAN was worried about the escalation.
“While the matter may not directly concern our Association, we are alarmed by the tone, trajectory, and escalation of this issue. Beyond the reputational risks to various market participants, we are deeply concerned about the potential impact this may have on ordinary Nigerians, particularly in a downstream environment still stabilising post-deregulation,” he noted.
Adewole argued that it was misleading to suggest Nigeria’s downstream stability depended solely on Dangote Refinery.
“While we welcome the Dangote Refinery as a major infrastructure project, its contribution has peaked at only 30 to 35 per cent of national demand. The balance continues to be supplied by responsible petroleum product marketers, including DAPPMAN members, who import and distribute under strict regulatory oversight by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority,” he said.
According to him, for decades, DAPPMAN marketers have guaranteed fuel availability across the country by investing in depots, trucking fleets, retail networks, and logistics, even during periods of forex pressure, subsidy transitions, insecurity, and economic downturns.
“These contributions deserve recognition, not erasure. We reject any insinuation that DAPPMAN members deal in ‘substandard’ petroleum products. All imports are subject to independent, regulator-accredited laboratory testing in accordance with NMDPRA protocols and global quality standards,” the statement added.
