With precisely every week to go in his presidency, President Muhammadu Buhari on Might 22, 2023, inaugurated the Dangote Refinery, a 650,000 barrels per day facility reputed to be the biggest Single-Prepare petroleum refinery on this planet. There was pomp and circumstance because the refinery reportedly got here on board, however as it will later prove, Buhari would seem to have been goaded into inaugurating an uncompleted refinery. It may additionally be that the previous President was simply too desperate to have his identify inscribed on what was perceived as a legacy venture.
That motion would subsequently set the stage for occasions which have referred to as to query, Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s readiness to function as a participant within the Nigerian petroleum sector. To start with, the promise made by Dangote in the course of the inauguration of the refinery to the impact that the plant would begin in August 2023 didn’t materialize just because the refinery wasn’t prepared opposite to the story put out by the Buhari Presidency and Dangote himself.
Manufacturing of diesel and aviation gas solely commenced within the first quarter of 2024 after the refinery had, between December 2023 and January 2024, obtained six cargo provides of crude.
Recall that Dangote, whereas saying the graduation of manufacturing of the 2 merchandise, thanked President Bola Tinubu and the 2 regulatory companies within the Upstream and Midstream and Downstream sectors of the Nigerian petroleum business in addition to the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted (NNPCL) for his or her help.
Learn him: “We thank President Bola Tinubu for his help and for making our dream come true. This manufacturing, as witnessed at the moment, wouldn’t have been potential with out his visionary management and immediate consideration to particulars. His intervention at varied phases cleared all impediments thereby accelerating the actualisation of the venture. We additionally thank the NNPC, NUPRC and NMDPRA for his or her help. These organisations have been our reliable companions on this historic journey.”
You will need to word the exceptional feedback by Dangote supra as a result of just some months later, he would flip spherical to confer with the NNPC Restricted and the NMDPRA as unpatriotic entities working towards the refinery and Nigeria. Dangote’s histrionics started when he accused the NNPC Ltd and Worldwide Oil Firms (IOCs) of refusing to promote crude to him. He stated they most well-liked to promote to firms working outdoors Nigeria. When the folly in his allegations was laid naked by the truth that each the NNPC Ltd and the IOCs already had crude provide agreements predating even the organising of Dangote Refinery, which couldn’t be breached with out exposing them to litigation, Dangote modified ways. He subsequent accused the NNPC Ltd of organising a mixing plant in Malta from the place they import poor high quality gas into the nation.
Some discerning business gamers have been educated sufficient to know that the accusation amounted to crimson herring to distract Nigerians from the actual points. One in every of these was that simply earlier than he hurled the allegation towards the NNPC Ltd, the NMDPRA had alerted Nigerians to the excessive sulphur content material of diesel produced and bought by Dangote Refinery. The sulphur content material within the diesel, which grossly exceeded internationally-acceptable commonplace, is injurious each to people and automobiles.
As well as, the NMDPRA stated Dangote had lobbied authorities to ban importation of petroleum merchandise since his refinery was already producing them. In keeping with Engineer Farouk Ahmed, CEO of NMDPRA: “Dangote is requesting that we droop or cease importation, particularly of AGO and DPK, and direct all entrepreneurs to his refinery. That’s not good for the nation by way of power safety, and it’s not good for the market due to the monopoly.”
Vacationer website?
Realizing that his gaslighting of the NNPCL and NMDPRA had didn’t sway Nigerians to his aspect, Dangote has devised a brand new stratagem of whipping up sentiments, utilizing main public officers in parliament, non-state actors within the civil society organizations, and the media to obtain important validation and affiliation. To realize this mind-bending goal, he has turned the refinery, which should be striving onerous to fulfill up its manufacturing goal, right into a vacationer website the place these main public figures go to and eulogise his ingenuity. High on the listing of tourists to the refinery is Godswill Akpabio, President of Nigeria ‘s senate who led a forged of rating senators to the refinery.
Whereas touring the positioning, Akpabio sang like a canary: “They instructed us in Abuja that Dangote Refinery is a farce however we’ve got come right here and seen for ourselves that the refinery is alive and working. Dangote has put to disgrace lots of people. They’re questioning how it will likely be potential for a single particular person to perform what an entire nation couldn’t accomplish; what 240 million individuals couldn’t preserve; what a continent couldn’t do after which one particular person will construct 650,000bpd venture.
“They maintain questioning how one particular person can succeed the place nations have failed; the place continent has failed. However Dangote has finished it. It’s extremely commendable. We got here to see the refinery as a result of we within the present senate imagine within the Nigerian dream. We didn’t come as a doubting Thomas however we got here as a result of we imagine the venture, we got here to rekindle the hope of Nigerians and the Nigerian’s can do spirit.”
Akpabio additionally reportedly stated: “Mr. Dangote, I pity you numerous as a result of even your mates will envy you just because they are going to maintain questioning how will you succeed when nations, and continents have failed? Now that we’ve got seen for ourselves, we’re right here to announce our personal endorsement of this main venture. Additionally it is stunning to see that we produce adequate fertilisers for Nigeria and sufficient to be exported.”
Lower than a month after Akpabio and firm visited, Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the Home of Representatives, led his colleagues within the Home on one other junket to the Refinery. Much less effusive in his adulation of Dangote, Speaker Abbas nonetheless eulogized the businessman. Learn him: “Dangote Refinery symbolizes not solely the power and potential of Nigerian business but in addition the dedication and imaginative and prescient of one among our most esteemed enterprise leaders, Mr Aliko Dangote. As we tour this state-of-the-art facility, it’s unimaginable to not respect the numerous contributions that Dangote Group is making to our economic system.”
It was not solely our parliamentarians which were mobilized on tour, like highschool college students, to the refinery. A coalition of Civil Society Organizations, lots of which had remained silent amid the socio-economic challenges confronted by Nigerians, discovered it a “worthy ” enterprise to go to the Dangote Refinery on what appeared a pilgrimage to attain a united voice of validation for the ability. The CSOs, now pushing to outshine different vacationers, have arrogated to themselves the facility to watch crude provide compliance from the NNPC to the Dangote Refinery.
Subsequent in line was a workforce of media executives throughout print, digital in addition to on-line media professionals together with bloggers and content material creators. The ability additionally hosted curiosity teams from the Niger Delta below the banner of Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil & Fuel. As these main Nigerians visited the refinery to pay homage, the late playwright, Ola Rotimi’s adage that when the mom cow eats grass, her younger ones watch her mouth, proved very correct as a coalition of youths teams calling themselves the Lagos Advocacy Group, Lekki Empire Advocacy Discussion board, and Yoruba Youth Advocacy Discussion board, joined the Dangote admiration group.
Talking on behalf of the teams, Yakubu Eleto, Convener of the Lagos Advocacy Group referred to as on conventional rulers within the South-West to rally behind the Dangote Refinery as a result of it’s situated in Yorubaland.
Heading south
It’s instructive to notice that whereas the management of the Nationwide Meeting, the CSOs, the media and others are falling over each other to sing Dangote’s reward, these with a eager eye for enterprise are taking a special view of issues. This week, Fitch, the worldwide score company downgraded the Dangote group, the Dangote Industries Restricted, resulting from what it described because the “important deterioration within the group’s liquidity place and uncertainty associated to its means to refinance maturing debt associated to the syndicated mortgage raised to finance building of Dangote Oil Refining Firm (DORC).”
The company stated additional delays by the Dangote group in assembly the funding necessities would considerably improve the probability of monetary restructuring or default and result in additional score downgrade.
Learn what Fitch stated: “The downgrade displays important deterioration within the group’s liquidity place following decrease than anticipated disposal proceeds, operational and monetary underperformance in comparison with our prior expectations, additionally affected by native foreign money devaluation, and lack of contracted backup funding to repay its important debt amenities maturing on 31 August 2024.
“We view the dearth of DIL’s audited accounts for 2023 as a company governance challenge. The earnings earlier than curiosity tax depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) contribution from DORC has (sic) been far under our earlier projection.”
In keeping with Fitch, “DIL has rapid debt servicing necessities associated to the syndicated mortgage raised to finance the development of Dangote Oil Refining Firm (DORC).”
Dangote Refinery has a manufacturing capability of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) of refined oil merchandise, which might be bought in each the Nigerian home and worldwide markets. Stories point out that in the course of the First Half (1H) 2024 the refinery operated at round 50% capability and produced between 325,000 bpd to 375,000 bpd.
Considerably, Fitch famous that the gloomy state of affairs the Dangote group had discovered itself was pushing it to contemplate promoting off 12.5 p.c of its stake within the refinery. In 2021, NNPC Ltd acquired a 7.25 p.c stake within the Dangote refinery’s venture entity for $1.0 billion, with an choice to buy the remaining 12.75 p.c stake by June 2024. “Because the choice has not been exercised, the group plans to divest a 12.75% stake in DORC in 2024,” Fitch Rankings stated.
It’s exceptional to see that in a single month, the Dangote Refinery had turn into a Mecca of types to high parliamentarians and society watchdogs just like the media and CSOs, all of who by the character of their features are alleged to be neutral and goal with the safety of the frequent good as their high precedence however who in actuality had turn into blatantly partisan.
Of their newfound love for Dangote, none of those people or teams addressed the vital problems with Dangote Refinery’s manufacturing of adulterated diesel or try by Dangote to entrench a monopoly by asking authorities to freeze out his opponents.
It’s disappointing particularly that lawmakers who should exhibit impartiality and make sure that a level-play area is offered for all companies, have so tactlessly taken sides in a matter with out due investigation. That partisanship is deplorable and should not have any place in a society as ours with its variety and tendency for recourse to expression of primordial sentiments, which instigate and worsen current ethnic and non secular fault-lines.
Granted that native companies like Dangote Refinery, that are of strategic profit to Nigerians, must be shielded from being overrun by international enterprise entities, it doesn’t excuse it from complying with provisions of extant by legal guidelines regulating its operations. The allegations towards Dangote Refinery are weighty and must be totally investigated. We don’t want extra dramas presently.
● Bosun Adetiloye is an Abuja-based public analyst.
