Filling stations and bulk gasoline consumers are abandoning their intermediaries suppliers in favor of Dangote’s free delivery since the refinery’s direct fuel distribution plan was introduced.
This was said by Yusuf Othman, President of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, in a live TVC News show. Buyers have now renounced the contracts they signed with his members in order to receive free delivery from Dangote, according to Othman, who denounced the free delivery of petrol to filling stations, telecom companies, and other bulk consumers.
The president of NARTO clarified that his members are unable to provide free fuel distribution because they own up to 30,000 trucks.
“Many businesses have made agreements with our members.
Although we have official agreements inked, some of them are even informal agreements. We used these agreements to obtain bank facilities in order to purchase vehicles and provide services to those businesses. However, now that a big brother is coming to provide them directly, disregarding the fact that they have signed agreements with us, those agreements are in jeopardy.
Even though they haven’t formally told us or verified it, the evidence we have revealed indicates that this is still going on, therefore our trucks won’t be used again. That is among the factors contributing to the high number of complaints from our members. It’s a really difficult position if I sign a service agreement with you using my ten trucks and someone else shows up to do the same thing for you for free.
That is one of the reasons we are contacting the Federal Government, he said, particularly the NMDPRA, which has made it quite evident to us that this act is unlawful under Section 212 of the PIA.
The NARTO boss urged to Dangote to consider the survival of other businesses in the sector, saying everybody wants the refinery to prosper.
Contacted for answers on Sunday, Othman told our correspondent that he would no longer speak on the topic. For the sake of negotiations, he told our correspondent, a ceasefire was planned. Some middlemen purchased from refineries or depot owners and resold to bulk customers prior to Dangote’s request that filling stations and bulk buyers register for direct fuel delivery. The old order seems to have been stopped by the Dangote free fuel distribution system, though, as purchasers now request direct supply in order to save money.
Last Monday, the Dangote refinery announced its logistics-free distribution plan. There will be more than 1,000 trucks that run on compressed natural gas sent to Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Kwara, and Abuja.
Fuel prices were also slashed as part of the plan. Fuel will retail for N841 per litre in Lagos and other South-Western states, and N851 per litre in Abuja, Rivers, Delta, Edo, and Kwara states.
“The Federal Capital Territory, Lagos, Kwara, Delta, Edo, Rivers, and South-West states will be covered in the first phase of the deployment, with a nationwide expansion planned as additional trucks are delivered,” the Dangote Group stated in a statement.
Marketers verified on Friday that trucks driven by compressed natural gas from Dangote Refinery have begun supplying fuel to their stations at no additional cost to them. In an interview with our correspondent, Abubakar Shettima, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, affirmed this.
“Dangote has begun offering free delivery. The vehicles are already in motion. Since the Western Zone is closer to Lagos, they have already begun releasing their goods in the majority of its regions. Thus, the plan is progressing steadily.
Additionally, my marketers are quite happy with the progress. I can attest to the fact that my members in Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Ibadan, and other places have begun to get the trucks,” Shettima said.
Regarding pricing, the IPMAN CEO clarified that under the new arrangement, prices would decrease from N865 to N841 as soon as gasoline arrives at the stations.
