President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has attributed the continued high price of petrol in Nigeria partly to the price gap between the country and its neighbours, which he said creates a strong incentive for the smuggling of locally supplied fuel across the borders.
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Dangote also warned that the escalating crisis in the Middle East could shift the concern in the global petroleum market from price increases to the actual availability of products, although he assured Nigerians that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery would continue supplying the domestic market and work to prevent shortages and queues.
Speaking during an interview aired on Arise TV on Tuesday, Dangote said the perception that petrol remains unusually expensive in Nigeria despite domestic refining should be considered against prevailing prices in neighbouring countries.
“You know, expensive is relative. In the sense that today, maybe, you know, a lot of them, there’s ignorance also. What they need to do is ask, what is the neighbour’s price?” he said.
Dangote claimed that significant volumes of petrol supplied in Nigeria were still being moved illegally into neighbouring countries because prices there are substantially higher.
“I don’t know if you know that there’s still a lot of smuggling of the same petrol we are producing to our neighbouring countries,” he said.
According to him, petrol prices in some neighbouring countries are between 30 and 50 per cent higher than Nigeria’s, creating an opportunity for traders who divert products from the domestic market to earn substantial margins.
“Because those neighbouring countries are about 30 to 50 per cent more expensive than Nigeria. So, it’s not actually like for like,” he said.
Dangote specifically cited Niger Republic, saying petrol there was selling at between 20 and 25 per cent above the Nigerian price.
“And people can now go and ask, okay, fine, what is the price of, even now at ₦1,350? Okay, the price in Niger is 20 to 25 per cent more than Nigeria,” he said.
He argued that such a price differential could provide an immediate incentive for diversion.
“So, what business are you going to do that will make you have an instant 25 per cent return?” Dangote asked.
Explaining how the alleged diversion could occur, he said products ostensibly destined for border states could instead be moved across Nigeria’s borders.
“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,” he said.
The implication, according to Dangote, is that some products intended for Nigerian consumers may be diverted because traders can obtain substantially higher prices outside the country.
However, the businessman said the larger concern confronting the petroleum market could soon move beyond prices because of continuing instability in the Middle East.
“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,” Dangote said.
His warning comes amid concerns that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East could disrupt international energy supply chains and affect both the availability and cost of crude oil and refined petroleum products.
Asked whether Nigerians should be concerned about the availability of petrol, Dangote said his refinery was committed to maintaining supplies to the domestic market.
“We will deliver to Nigeria. Nigerians don’t need to worry. There will not be any shortage from our own part,” he said.
“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.”
The comments come as petrol prices have risen sharply in parts of the country amid higher international crude prices and adjustments in refinery and retail prices.
They also coincided with the opening of the initial public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals on the Nigerian Exchange.
The ₦2.15 trillion IPO formally opened during an opening-gong ceremony at the NGX trading floor in Marina, Lagos, with Dangote sounding the gong to mark the commencement of the offer.
The listing exercise makes the refinery the first petroleum refinery to be offered to investors on the Nigerian stock market in the Exchange’s 66-year history.
The offer comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at ₦525 each, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares, amounting to ₦5,250.
The IPO is open to retail, institutional and eligible African investors and is scheduled to close on October 13, 2026.
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