President Bola Tinubu is currently in a meeting with the Implementation Committee on Crude Oil and Refined Products Sales in Local Currency at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja. The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, is leading the delegation, which includes Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, and Mele Kyari, Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ¹ ².
The meeting comes after the Federal Government began implementing a policy to sell crude oil to the Dangote Refinery in naira instead of US dollars, following approval from the Federal Executive Council ¹ ² ³. This move aims to stabilize domestic fuel prices, strengthen Nigeria’s currency, and reduce the need for dollars in crude oil transactions.
The Dangote Refinery, which requires significant crude supplies annually, is expected to provide petrol and diesel in naira, simplifying currency transactions and lessening the economic strain of fuel imports ¹. The government hopes to reduce FOREX demands by up to 40% with the support of key institutions like the Central Bank of Nigeria and AfreximBank.
However, a pricing dispute between the NNPCL and Dangote Refinery may be addressed during the meeting, as the NNPCL claimed it bought petrol from Dangote at a high price of N898 per liter, which Dangote’s representatives called “misleading” ¹.
