President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said abandoning his refinery project was never an option because he believed Nigeria needed to end the huge financial burden associated with fuel subsidies.
Dangote made the remarks in a recent interview with Al Jazeera, where he said Nigeria had been spending about $10 billion annually on fuel subsidies before the development of his 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery.
According to the businessman, the subsidy system had become a major bottleneck for the government, with large amounts of public money being spent on imported petroleum products.
“Turning back was not an option,” Dangote said, alleging that about $10 billion was being lost annually through the subsidy system.
He said his entry into the refining sector disrupted what he described as entrenched interests in Nigeria’s oil industry.
“We fought them hard, they saw that we had succeeded, so now things have calmed down,” he said, while noting that some opposition to the refinery’s operations remained.
The Dangote Refinery, located in Lekki, Lagos, has a stated capacity of 650,000 barrels per day and began operations in 2024. The facility has significantly changed Nigeria’s petroleum-products trade, with the country increasingly supplying refined products domestically and exporting fuel to international markets.
Dangote’s comments come amid continuing debate over petrol pricing and subsidy policy in Nigeria. The issue has also featured prominently in political discussions ahead of the 2027 general elections, with different political actors proposing varying approaches to supporting domestic refining and managing fuel prices.
The Dangote Refinery recently opened an initial public offering on the Nigerian Exchange, offering shares to the public at N525 per share as part of efforts to broaden ownership of the facility.
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