DAPPMAN has blasted Dangote Refinery and labelled fuel distribution scheme a scam.
NaijaOnPoint Nigeria reports that the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has accused Dangote Refinery of running a deceptive fuel distribution scheme, describing it as a deliberate scam designed to frustrate competition and monopolize the downstream sector.
In a hard-hitting statement, DAPPMAN dismissed Dangote Refinery’s announcement that it would roll out 4,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks for nationwide distribution of fuel and diesel as “misleading propaganda.”
This follows growing backlash from the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), which accused the refinery of plotting with government forces to cripple unions and suffocate other players in the oil sector.
According to DAPPMAN, Dangote’s much-touted “free delivery” scheme is nothing short of a hoax. The group explained that marketers are forced to lift at least 25 percent of allocations directly from Dangote’s gantry using only Dangote-owned trucks at commercial rates. This, it said, inflates costs, restricts operational flexibility, and directly contradicts claims of easing the burden on Nigerians.
“Contrary to the glossy media campaigns, what exists is an exploitative arrangement that piles additional financial pressure on marketers while giving Dangote full control of the value chain,” DAPPMAN declared.
The association further alleged that the refinery manipulates fuel prices to deliberately destabilize competitors. “The so-called patriotic price cuts are anything but noble. They are timed to sabotage rival importers whenever their vessels arrive, creating artificial shocks that ruin investments and destabilize the market,” DAPPMAN added.
Worse still, Dangote Refinery is accused of cheating domestic buyers while offering cheaper rates to foreign customers. “This refinery claims to prioritize Nigerians, yet sells fuel abroad at lower prices while charging its own people more. It’s hypocrisy of the highest order and an insult to struggling businesses already battling survival under harsh economic conditions,” the statement said.
DAPPMAN maintained that the refinery’s tactics are not about patriotism or market relief but about entrenching monopoly, suffocating competition, and dictating prices to an already vulnerable economy.
Meanwhile, NaijaOnPoint Nigeria earlier reported that in a statement on Thursday, Dangote said it embarked on a large-scale CNG-powered truck roll-out to boost logistic strength and cost reductions across the distribution value chain of the domestic economy.
“Even though we recently noticed how the CNG prices doubled a week ago, that will not deter our 10,000 CNG truck roll-out this year,” the company said.
The Dangote Group spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, told our correspondent in a statement that the scheme would start with the South West, the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Kwara, Delta, Rivers and Edo States.
He added that the refinery has also dropped petrol retail prices to N841 per litre in Lagos and the South West and N851 per litre in Abuja, Edo, Kwara, Rivers and Delta States.
“We are starting the free fuel distribution scheme on Monday. We will start with Lagos and the South West, Abuja, Kwara, Delta, Rivers and Edo States. There will be a drop in price effective on Monday when the free distribution starts,” it was said.
Recall that the free fuel distribution scheme was supposed to have started in August, but it was delayed due to logistics challenges in China.