Dangote Blames Smuggling To Niger, Neighbouring Countries For High Petrol Price In Nigeria — “They Sell At 30-50% Premium”

President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has blamed the persistent high price of petrol in Nigeria on large-scale smuggling of the product to neighbouring countries, where it sells for 30 to 50 per cent more.

Dangote said the cross-border price gap is the main reason petrol remains expensive despite domestic refining, because traders divert products meant for the Nigerian market to countries like Niger Republic to make instant profit.

He stated this in an interview aired on ARISE TV on Tuesday while speaking on petrol pricing and availability amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

According to Dangote, as long as petrol is cheaper in Nigeria than in neighbouring countries, smugglers will continue to move it across the border.

“You know, expensive is relative. What they need to do is ask, what is the neighbour’s price? There’s still a lot of smuggling of the same petrol we are producing to our neighbouring countries,” he said.

“Because those neighbouring countries are about 30 to 50 per cent more expensive than Nigeria. So, it’s not actually like for like.”

Dangote specifically cited Niger, where he said petrol now sells for 20 to 25 per cent higher than Nigeria’s N1,350 price, making smuggling highly lucrative.

“And people can now go and ask, okay, fine, what is the price of, even now at N1,350? Okay, the price in Niger is 20 to 25 per cent more than Nigeria,” he said.

“So, what business are you going to do that will make you have an instant 25 per cent return?”

He explained the smuggling route, alleging that some marketers pretend to be transporting petrol to northern cities like Sokoto, but divert it to border towns like Ilela for onward sale to neighbouring countries.

“So, it means that, yes, you take the petrol, you go and take it across the border. You pretend you are taking it to Sokoto, you go and just take it to Ilela, and you sell. Actually, they don’t have,” he said.

Dangote warned that beyond price, the bigger threat from the Middle East crisis is availability.

“And the problem now, going forward, I must also warn that this crisis in the Middle East is not even about price; it’s about availability,” he said.

He, however, assured Nigerians that the Dangote Refinery will continue to meet local demand and prevent fuel scarcity.

“We will deliver to Nigeria. Nigerians don’t need to worry. There will not be any shortage from our own part. There won’t be any shortage. There will not be any queues. We will make sure that we keep satisfying the market, despite all odds,” he added.