The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has raised questions regarding the widely celebrated Dangote Refinery, asking if the excitement is justified if its fuel will be costlier than imported products.

IPMAN National Welfare Officer, John Kekeocha, who made this known on Channels Television’s The Morning Breakfast programme on Monday, noted that it doesn’t make sense for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to sell petrol lifted from the Dangote Refinery higher than imported ones.

“If NNPC can sell Dangote products higher than the imported products then it doesn’t make sense. What is the celebration we are having all these while then?” he said.

NNPC Limited had released the estimated prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol (obtained from the Dangote Refinery) at its retail stations across the country.

This was disclosed in a press statement issued by the state-owned company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Monday.

The company emphasised that PMS prices are negotiated directly between parties and not set by the government, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The NNPC on Sunday announced its fuel purchase from Dangote Refinery at a rate of N898 per litre.

NNPCL dispatched about 300 trucks to the 650,000-barrels-per-day capacity refinery in Lagos on Saturday, with loading operations commencing on Sunday.

Spokesperson for the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, on Sunday said the company bought the fuel as N898 per litre contrary to reports claiming N760.

However, Dangote Group described the NNPC’s statement that it bought petrol at N898 per litre as “misleading and mischievous”.

Anthony Chiejina, Dangote Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, in a statement on Sunday evening, knocked the claim made by the NNPC.

The estimated pump price for petrol based on Dangote Refinery’s September 2024 PMS pricing is outlined as follows:

In Sokoto State, the price is set at N999.22, while Katsina State faces challenges with supply. In Borno State, the price is set at N1,019.22 per litre. In Kano, Kaduna, and the FCT, the price is set at N999.22, while it is N950.22 in Lagos and N960.22 in Oyo. It will be sold for N980.22 in Rivers and Imo states.