A fierce price competition has broken out in Nigeria’s fuel market, with importers slashing petrol prices below those offered by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
This development comes just weeks after Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, urged the Federal Government to ban fuel imports to support local refining.
Market surveys reveal that several filling stations are now selling petrol below N860 per litre, undercutting the N865–N875 range maintained by Dangote’s authorized distributors like MRS and Heyden in Lagos and Ogun States. At SGR filling station in Ogun State, petrol was dispensed at N847 per litre on Tuesday.
Industry sources indicate that importers have reduced their ex-depot prices to stay competitive. While Dangote Refinery maintained an ex-depot price of N820 per litre, competing depots including Aiteo and Menj were selling at N815 per litre, according to Petroleumprice.ng data.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, confirmed the price adjustments.
He said, “Depot owners are dropping their petrol prices. Some of them are selling N815, some are selling N817, while Dangote is selling N820. NNPC is still selling at N825; it has not dropped its prices yet.”
Ukadike hailed the price war as proof of market liberalization’s benefits, cautioning against calls to ban imports:
“This is the beauty of the liberalisation of the market. That is why we opined that the President should not ban anybody from importing petroleum products. Nobody should be stopped from bringing in petroleum products. That is the beauty of opening up the market. Implementation and local refining will checkmate unfair pricing. As an indigenous country, you must refine to ensure that you have the best price.”
The IPMAN official dismissed concerns about substandard fuel imports, stating the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority ensures product quality control.
The aggressive price cuts mark a direct challenge to Dangote, who recently decried importation as “unfair competition” undermining Nigeria’s refining capacity. The industrialist had urged African governments to implement protective trade measures similar to those in the US, Canada and EU to safeguard local industries.
