By Jude Michael
A non-governmental organisation, Justice Action Alliance (JAA), has said that Nigerians are tired of what they called the shenanigans of the management of Dangote Refinery in making petrol available to the masses.
The group in a press release called on the refinery to clarify the controversy in pricing and availability of the product to Nigerians.
Dangote Group had earlier announced that the Federal Government would be the sole buyer of its product and that the Federal Government was also working on its pricing.
But the Federal Government had also in a press statement denied that it would be the sole buyer of Dangote Refinery’s petrol, saying that the refinery could sell to other distributors on owner-buyer-agreement basis.
The Federal Government, contrary to claims by Dangote Refinery that it was working out the pricing of the product, denied that market forces would be responsible for the price of the product from the 650, 000 bpd refinery.
Reacting to this back and forth, JAA in a press release made available to newsmen and signed by the Executive Secretary of the group, Benjamin Udechukwu, urged Dangote Refinery to quit making excuses and provide its product to the masses.
Part of the statement read: “Initially, Dangote said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) would decide the price. Later, it announced that NNPC would be the sole off-taker. But in its reaction, NNPC stated that market forces would determine the price.
‘’This confusion has sparked frustration among Nigerians who are eagerly awaiting the introduction of locally refined fuel from Dangote Refinery into the market.
“We, the Justice Action Alliance (JAA) are calling on Dangote Refinery to stop confusing Nigerians at this critical time of hardship in the nation. So, as a matter of urgency, we challenge Dangote Refinery to immediately fulfil its promise on the availability of petrol.
“Truly speaking, we feel it is absurd and unacceptable to claim that NNPCL will determine the price of his product as a private entity or become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment.”
