Dangote Refinery stops discounted fuel scheme over marketers’ diversion scandal

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has exposed a new fraud involving some of its affiliated marketers and strategic partners who have been diverting subsidised fuel products for profit, which led to the suspension of the refinery’s discounted fuel supply programme.

An internal investigation carried out revealed that some marketers granted access to discounted fuel, intended to maintain affordability and availability across retail stations and had been diverting their loaded trucks to unauthorised third-party marketers.

The company explained that the initiative was originally introduced to help Dangote’s approved affiliates maintain steady profit margins amidst price competition from fuel importers, while also ensuring nationwide access to the refinery’s products.

However, the marketers involved allegedly circumvented the supply chain by allowing non-registered importers to collect products from the refinery using their Authority To Collect (ATC) tickets.

It added that this enabled them to profit from the price difference without bearing legitimate costs such as logistics, retail operations, or compliance, allowing for quick and undue gains.

The refinery also revealed that the diverted fuel was being sold at market rates significantly higher than the agreed discounted prices, thereby undermining the scheme’s core objectives and disrupting the downstream fuel market, hence the company in a letter signed by Fatima Dangote, Group Executive Director for Commercial Operations addressed to all strategic partners ordered the suspension of the discounted pricing arrangement effective from 13 July 2025.

The refinery’s management stated that some marketers were selling fuel directly from the depot at prices below the official gantry rate, a practice that threatens the long-term sustainability of operations.

The company, which had introduced the discounted pricing scheme to guarantee access to affordable, cleaner fuel across the country, bemoaned that the abuse of the system had become widespread despite several prior discussions with the offending marketers.

In the letter titled “Suspension of the Strategic Partner Discounted Price,” the company stated that the programme was launched to enable the distribution and retail of Dangote Petroleum Refinery Products (DPRP) nationwide. The intention was to ensure consumers had access to affordable and clean fuel through affiliated stations.

It went on to state that in recent months, the DPRP had received numerous reports of strategic partners selling their ATCs at the depot at below-market rates. Despite several engagements with those partners, the problem had worsened, threatening the viability of depot operations.

However, the Group Head of Corporate Communications, Anthony Chiejina, said the refinery was not in conflict with marketers but was taking corrective steps to ensure operational sustainability.

The refinery, he said has also reiterated that the strategic partnership programme remains intact but will undergo a restructuring, adding that company was developing a new incentive or reward scheme for loyal partners.

The company did not officially name the defaulting marketers, but its list of current strategic partners includes MRS Oil, TotalEnergies, Heyden Petroleum, Ardova Plc, Hyde Energy, Optima Energy, Techno Oil, and Sobaz Nigeria Ltd.

It was gathered that some non-affiliated depot operators had aligned their pricing with Dangote’s adjustments, selling at an average of ₦820 per litre down from ₦835 earlier in the week.