Dangote Urges Ban On Fuel Importation To Protect Nigeria’s Refining Future

July 28, 2025

The Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group and Refinery, Mohammed Aliko Dangote has urged the Federal Government to ban the import of fuels in line with its “Nigeria First” policy.

“The Nigeria First policy announced by His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, should apply to the petroleum product sector and all other sectors,” He said. It was earlier said by Dangote that Government should bans government agencies from buying foreign goods if the same goods are available in Nigeria.

He said a lot of the imported fuel in Nigeria was of low quality that would not be allowed in other fuel markets.

“We are now facing increased dumping of cheap, often toxic petroleum products, some of which are blended to substandard levels that would never be allowed in Europe or North America,” Dangote affirmed.

Dangote also said that some of the fuels that enter Nigeria are produced with discounted Russian oil, which makes them cheaper than local fuels, which is unfair to local refiners.

Dangote Refinery began production in May 2023 after a construction period starting in 2016. The refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, Nigeria, is a massive, single-train facility designed to process 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, aiming to make Nigeria self-sufficient in refined petroleum products and potentially export to other nations. 

This has lead to rise in U.S. crude oil exports to Nigeria in the first quarter of this year as domestic demand declined on refinery maintenance, making the oil more affordable for Nigerian markets.

Any imports, however, are a threat to the refinery, whose owner aim to supply all the fuels consumed in Nigeria and suburbs. According to Dangote, Nigeria is currently a net exporter of fuels, with 1.35 billion litres of gasoline exported for almost two months.