THE ongoing war between the Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) continues to generate reactions from Nigerians as the Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has challenged the NNPCL to buy out his refinery.

Dangote disclosed this according to a Premium Times report on Sunday, July 21.

The report shows the African richest man saying he is willing to give up ownership of his $19 billion oil refinery to the state-owned energy company NNPCL, following the government’s claim that products refined by the company were of lower quality than those imported by the NNPCL.

“Let them (NNPCL) buy me out and run the refinery the best way they can. They have labelled me a monopolist. That’s an incorrect and unfair allegation, but it’s OK. If they buy me out, at least, their so-called monopolist would be out of the way.

“As you probably know, I am 67 years old, in less than three years, I will be 70. I need very little to live the rest of my life. I can’t take the refinery or any other property or asset to my grave. Everything I do is in the interest of my country,” the report quoted Dangote to have said.

While the refinery can help resolve Nigeria’s fuel and foreign exchange challenges, Dangote stressed that “it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, (and) run the refinery. At least the country will have high-quality products and create jobs.”

Since January when the Dangote refinery started diesel and jet A1 production and slashed the pump price of the products, the company’s management has been in a war of words with the regulators.

The Dangote refinery has been lamenting how difficult it has been to get the feedstock required to keep its 650,000 capacity running, compelling it to source crude oil supply from Brazil and the United States.

At various times, it accused the international oil companies and the regulatory authorities of frustrating its efforts to get crude oil supply.

Commenting on the Dangote’s position to throw in the towel, an X user, Okaka Odumodu, tweeted, “You want to hand the refinery to the NNPC which has not been able to get the nation’s refineries to work? It means that the refinery will never work.”

Another X user at @majorlouwe said the NNPC didn’t want any of the nation’s refineries to work, adding that it is a deliberate sabotage that none of the refineries was working.

“We need a revolution to chase out all the corrupt politicians and workers behind NNPC failure not making any of our refinery work,” @ambidehen tweeted, adding that Nigerians needed to rise against those constantly sabotaging things that were supposed to benefit the entire country and share among themselves.

Also, @frankdarl gave a twist, “He wants a way out and that’s the only way out now, let them buy him out. Too much has been invested and the failure of getting anything can be a really big blow.”

Other Nigerians believe that it is a payback time for the wealthiest man in Africa.

“He has been a state-endorsed and backed monopoly for over 25 years. Always backed up by Aso Rock and the CBN @cenbank,” @June12Post commented.

“That monopolist tag really pained Dangote but we have known all along. What is paining him is that the gov’t that he expects to protect him is the one calling him out. But the truth is bitter,” @RolandNGabriel also shared his view.

On Sunday, July 21, The ICIR reported that the Dangote refinery had challenged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to conduct tests on its products to determine the credibility of the agency’s claim that its diesel was inferior to those imported.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, told journalists that the products from the Dangote refinery were much inferior to the imported quality.

He added that the Dangote Refinery was still in the pre-commissioning stage and had not been licensed yet.

Many industry analysts believe the coming of Dangote Refinery in the Nigeria oil and gas sector was a threat to the government and state-owned oil refinery, NNPCL.

In a recent interview with The ICIR, a former chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Adetunji Oyebanji, while responding to a question about whether he sees the Dangote Refinery emergence as disrupting the market with the NNPCL price-control regime, it was expected that Dangote would try to protect his interests and maximise returns on his refinery.

“The good thing is to know that with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the price has been deregulated. We would sell according to what we buy. On the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited-NNPCL, I won’t want to make any speculation, even though commercially, you look at the price they’re selling and you can judge whether it’s a price that makes economic sense,” he added.

Nigeria has been importing refined petroleum products despite producing crude and having four moribund refineries.