THE Federal Executive Council (FEC) has instructed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other domestic refineries in naira, rather than in U.S. dollars.
The head of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zack Adedeji, announced this after a FEC meeting led by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja today.
He noted that this measure aims to alleviate the pressure on the country’s foreign expenditures and stabilize the prices of petrol, diesel, and other products in Nigeria.
Adedeji stated that the FEC mandated the state-owned NNPCL to promptly implement this directive to enhance local production of refined petroleum products in Nigeria.
Additionally, he mentioned that the Tinubu administration has directed that sales of refined products from Dangote Refinery to oil marketers and distributors be done in naira instead of U.S. dollars.
In a related context, prominent industrialist and owner of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has accused authorities and International Oil Companies of obstructing crude supply to his $20 billion facility located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone near Lagos.
Subsequently, regulatory authorities scrutinized the quality of petroleum products produced at the Dangote Refinery, but Dangote insisted that the quality of his refinery’s products exceeds those imported by marketers.
Dangote launched operations at his massive facility in Lagos last December, starting with a production capacity of 350,000 barrels per day, with plans to reach its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year.
The refinery has begun supplying diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country, with petrol supply expected to commence in August, despite facing regulatory challenges.