Founder and President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has announced that petrol prices will drop to ₦739 per litre nationwide, beginning Tuesday, with initial implementation at MRS stations in Lagos.
Dangote, at a press briefing at the Lekki Refinery on Sunday, said the refinery had reduced its gantry price from ₦828 to ₦699 per litre two days earlier.
He assured that the ₦739 per litre price would be enforced and emphasised his commitment to fight price manipulation.
“Starting from Tuesday, MRS will start selling petrol at N739/litre. Definitely, we will enforce that low price. We will make sure that it’s implemented. If you have your truck, you can come here and buy it. We are selling at N699. The N699 includes the percentage of NMDPRA. So what actually comes out to us is about N389 or so.
“Those who want to keep the price to sabotage the government, we will fight as much as we can to make sure that these prices are down. N970 is not the price. If you have money to come and buy, you can pick up petrol at N699,” he said to journalists.
The group CEO expressed concern that some filling stations were ‘deliberately’ keeping pump prices high, undermining the intended reduction.
“I was told that the marketers have met with [some officials] and were told to make sure that the price is maintained high. But this price we are going to introduce, we are going to start with MRS stations most likely on Tuesday in Lagos; that N970 per litre, you won’t see it again,” he said.
Dangote urged members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other buyers to purchase fuel at the lower gantry price.
“We have asked anybody who can buy 10 trucks to come and buy 10 trucks at N699. We are going to use whatever resources we have to make sure we crash the price down.
“Within a week to 10 days, we will be able to deliver. For this December and January, we don’t want people to sell petrol for more than N740 nationwide,” he stated.