DAPPMAN Refutes Dangote Refinery Claims, Attributes Petrol Price Drop to Naira Strength and Global Oil Trends
Nigeria’s Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMAN) has pushed back against the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company, rejecting claims that the refinery is responsible for recent petrol price reductions. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the association accused the refinery of making “misleading allegations” that undermine public trust and regulatory confidence in the nation’s deregulated downstream oil sector.
DAPPMAN’s Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, explained that the group represents legitimate depot owners and marketers, not labour unions or other stakeholders. He said Dangote’s allegation that DAPPMAN sponsored the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) demonstrates a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how Nigeria’s downstream ecosystem operates. According to Adewole, DAPPMAN’s role has been to de-escalate tensions and prevent disruptions in fuel supply and national mobility, not to instigate industrial action.
The marketers stressed that the current drop in pump prices is not “Dangote-driven” but a result of broader economic shifts. These include the strengthening of the naira to N1,500–N1,550 per dollar in 2025, fiscal and monetary reforms initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, falling Brent crude prices from $92 to $76 per barrel, and improved foreign exchange liquidity. DAPPMAN said these factors, not the refinery’s operations, are primarily responsible for cheaper petrol at the pump.
DAPPMAN also challenged the refinery’s business practices, questioning why Dangote can export refined products to competitive markets such as the United States but limits Nigerian marketers to gantry-only loading at home. The association argued that open and competitive supply chains benefit all stakeholders and warned against restrictive trade practices that could stifle Nigeria’s downstream market.
On allegations that Nigerian marketers import Dangote-refined products from Togo, DAPPMAN clarified that offshore Lome is a recognized West African trading hub, not a blending plant, where cargoes are exchanged, not processed. The group accused the refinery of offering discounts to foreign traders while restricting Nigerian marketers, creating the arbitrage it criticizes. DAPPMAN further alleged that the refinery itself had sought waivers to distribute high-sulphur products, calling Dangote’s accusations of substandard imports “a double standard” and challenging the company to publicly deny it.
source: the sun