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Dangote increases price of petrol, one week after direct distribution plan
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical (DPRP) has raised its ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol by N55 from N825 to N880 per litre.
Though the company did not make the hike public, TheCable quoted Abubakar Shettima, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association ot Nigeria (IPMAN), as confirming the new development on Saturday.
“We are aware that the refinery has reviewed the price to N880 per litre. Our members have been informed,” he was quoted of the development, which seems the first time the company, which has reduced the price of the product on about three occasions since December last year, is taking this step.
On Sunday, June 15, the company announced that it would commence the direct distribution of products to end users nationwide with the acquisition of 4,000 new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered tankers, as well as credit facility for the customers.
Hear him: “This strategic programme is part of our broader commitment to eliminating logistics costs, enhancing energy efficiency, promoting sustainability, and supporting Nigeria’s economic development.
“It affirms our dedication to improving the availability and affordability of fuel in support of broader efforts to strengthen the economy and improve the well-being of all Nigerians.
“Under this initiative, all petrol stations purchasing PMS and diesel from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery will benefit from this enhanced logistics support.
“Key sectors such as manufacturing, telecommunications, and others will also gain from this transformative initiative, as reduced fuel costs will contribute to lower production costs, reduced inflation, and foster economic growth. Players in these key sectors and others can purchase directly from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery,” Tony Chiejina, spokesman of the company, had said in a statement.
But in a quick riposte, oil marketers under the auspices of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), on Tuesday cried out to the Federal Government and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), urging them to halt the company’s move, saying it was a killer punch to their own source of daily bread.
Billy Gillis-Harry, PETROAN President, who trumpeted the cries of his members while appearing on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels Television told his host on Tuesday: “If one company that is as massive as our brother’s (Aliko Dangote) can do all of this, of course, it is going to take us out of business.”
While insisting that regulators must correctly interpret and enforce the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in this regard to protect the jobs of tanker drivers and owners, he argued: “There are rules for that and I don’t think one company should take the responsibility to interpret and operationalise what the regulators should do. We need the regulators to interpret very efficiently.
“Right now, we are struggling to feed family and get things going and suddenly we are going to be out of business from August. It is going to take us transporters, many retail outlets owners and marketers out of business and that will affect all the jobs that have been created by these operators in this sub-sector.
“We don’t want one strong man but many strong men. We hope that the industry leaders would be able to get everybody together on the same table to address issues so that everybody will be at peace. Yes, it is competition but competition of what size? Is it a competition of one winner takes all? It should be a competition of everybody winning and Nigerians winning on the ultimate term.
“We are not sitting down. PETROAN is also gathering momentum to be able to look for alternatives on how we can source our product for our teeming members. There is a PIA that has been passed and is functioning that rules the industry. Pricing is regulated by Article 207. Licensing also has its procedures and processes.
“Everybody has to have a license to operate in a certain way. So, if you have a license to operate as a refinery, please refine and let those who have licensing and operational permits also do so. Let those who have operational permits and requirements for logistics do so. And those of us who have operational approvals for retail outlets should also do our bits and do it effectively.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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