Dangote Petroleum Refinery has rejected claims that its fuel and other petroleum products are shipped to Lomé in Togo and then brought back into Nigeria. In a statement released on Tuesday, the company called the allegations “unsubstantiated” and “a tissue of lies,” saying there is no commercial or operational basis for such an arrangement.
The refinery said its main mission is to improve energy security in Nigeria and beyond Africa by supplying petroleum products directly to the Nigerian market. It argued that exporting output to another country only to re-import it would run counter to that stated objective.
Quick facts
- Dangote Petroleum Refinery denies allegations of exports to Lomé, Togo, followed by re-importation into Nigeria.
- The company describes the claims as “unsubstantiated” and “a tissue of lies.”
- It says transporting products from Nigeria to Lomé and back would add logistics costs estimated at $82 to $90 per metric ton.
- The refinery says it does not provide export pricing incentives that could enable arbitrage.
- It cites strict traceability records and contractual limits that bar resale or re-importation into Nigeria.
The statement added that the allegation is not supported by available trade patterns or commercial reasoning. It emphasized that a round-trip route between Nigeria and Lomé would be expensive, with extra logistics costs estimated at between $82 and $90 per metric ton, making such movement commercially unattractive.
Dangote Refinery also said it does not use export pricing incentives that could create arbitrage opportunities—meaning there is no pricing structure designed to make it profitable to export products and then re-enter the Nigerian market.
To support its position, the company said it operates strict product traceability systems, including detailed documentation of buyers, shipping vessels, lifting points, and declared destinations. It further pointed to contractual restrictions that prohibit resale or re-importation into Nigeria.
Finally, the refinery said that promoting the alleged practice would contradict its public stance on reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products while strengthening domestic refining capacity.
