Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, announced on Tuesday that his refinery is capable of meeting Nigeria’s petrol needs, yet marketers are not taking advantage of the available supply. Dangote revealed that about 500 million liters of petrol remain in the refinery’s tanks, unused by retailers. He spoke to journalists at the State House after attending a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and the Implementation Committee on the Sale of Crude and Refined Petroleum Products.

“We have enough crude and can produce over 30 million liters of petrol daily. At full capacity, we could supply all domestic demand. Right now, there’s 500 million liters in our tanks—enough to cover the country’s consumption for over 12 days, even without imports or additional production,” Dangote explained.

He reaffirmed the refinery’s readiness, stating, “We are more than ready. I’ve assured the President that we can consistently provide at least 30 million liters per day, ramping up as needed. We’re prepared to meet demand.”

Addressing the fuel shortages and long queues at filling stations, Dangote noted that retailers have not been picking up fuel from the refinery. “We’re in the production business, not retail. If I were in retail, I’d take responsibility. But it’s the marketers who need to come and collect the fuel we’ve produced. If they don’t, what can we do?”

Dangote emphasized that while the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other marketers are free to continue importing fuel, the available supply from his refinery could meet demand if collected. “It costs us to store this fuel. Having 500 million liters in tanks is costly. If marketers come to collect it, it would reduce the queues at filling stations,” he stated.

Dangote urged retailers to treat the refinery’s supply as they would imports, adding, “They’ve been managing distribution with imported products, so there’s no reason why they can’t come and collect from us and distribute.”