We Are Not Competing With NNPC—Dangote Declares

Speaking during a visit to the headquarters of the NNPC in Abuja on Thursday, the businessman said the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) and the NNPC are business partners and are not at war as being insinuated.

He promised to collaborate with the new management team of the state-owned oil agency led by Mr Bashir Bayo Ojulari to drive economic growth in Nigeria.

“There is no competition between us, we are not here to compete with NNPC Ltd. NNPC is part and parcel of our business, and we are also part of NNPC. This is an era of co-operation between the two organisations,” Mr Dangote was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the NNPC spokesperson, Mr Olufemi Soneye.

Mr Dangote explained that he visited the NNPC tas part of ongoing efforts to promote mutually beneficial partnerships and foster healthy competition in the energy landscape in the country to boost Nigeria’s energy security and advance shared prosperity for Nigerians.

The richest man in Africa also congratulated Mr Ojulari and the Senior Management Team on their “well-deserved appointments,” acknowledging the enormity of the responsibility ahead.

In his remarks, the chief executive of NNPC assured Dangote of a mutually beneficial partnership anchored on healthy competition and productive collaboration, highlighting the exceptional calibre of talent he met in the organisation, describing the workforce as dedicated, highly skilled, and hardworking professionals who are consistently keen on delivering value for Nigeria.

Expressing the company’s readiness to build a legacy of national prosperity through innovation and shared purpose, Mr Ojulari said NNPC would sustain its collaboration with the Dangote Group especially where there is commercial advantage for Nigeria. It had been speculated that there is a price war between Dangote Refinery and the NNPC, especially in terms of the retail price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.

It was intense under the leadership of the immediate past chief executive of the NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, leading to the suspension of the Naira-for-crude sale agreement with Dangote Refinery and other private refiners.

However, the federal government announced the reinstatement of the deal last month after Mr Kyari was removed from office a few days earlier.

The NNPC was initially meant to be a shareholder in Dangote Refinery, but the deal later fell through.