Dangote Refinery urges IPMAN direct registration amid N40bn NNPCL dispute

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has called on the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to register directly with the company and avoid making payments through intermediaries, clarifying that it has not received any funds from IPMAN for petroleum products.

The statement comes as IPMAN recently claimed that its members could not load petrol at the refinery in Lagos despite allegedly paying ₦40 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for fuel.

Anthony Chiejina, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer at Dangote Refinery, issued a statement on Thursday titled IPMAN: Setting the Record Straight, explaining that while discussions with IPMAN are ongoing, Dangote Refinery currently has no direct business arrangement with the association.

According to Chiejina, any payments IPMAN has made were directed to NNPCL, not Dangote Refinery, which, therefore, cannot be held responsible for the transaction.

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The refinery emphasized that NNPCL has neither authorized nor directed it to supply Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, to IPMAN members.

“We cannot be held responsible for payments made to other entities,” Chiejina noted, advising IPMAN members to register directly with Dangote Refinery for future transactions.

This, he said, would streamline access to the refinery’s products, as Dangote Refinery has the capacity to meet national demand, with the ability to load 2,900 trucks daily and ship products by sea.

In the statement, Dangote Refinery urged all industry stakeholders to avoid speculative statements in the media, emphasizing that such misinformation could undermine Nigeria’s economic recovery efforts under President Bola Tinubu.

Chiejina cautioned against “media conflicts and needless propaganda,” calling for cooperation among stakeholders to support the government’s initiatives to stabilize the petroleum sector.