By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The federal government has confirmed the commencement of the crude-for-Naira sales to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in Nigeria on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, as earlier planned.
Recall that earlier, the owner of the facility in the Lekki area of Lagos, Mr Aliko Dangote, cried out over an alleged attempt by some powerful powerbrokers to frustrate his almost $20 billion investment by starving it of crude oil.
Just as he was about to open the can of worms about how some persons in the corridors of power were taking the country’s crude to Malta to process and sell to the nation, the government agreed to sell the commodity to his company in local currency.
A team was constituted for the implementation of the sale of crude oil to him and other domestic refiners, with October 1, 2024, fixed as the commencement.
However, like the jamboree that happened when the Dangote Refinery started the production of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol on September 2, 2024, and the loading of the product to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited on September 15, the was no razzmatazz about the crude-for-Naira sales from either party, Dangote Refinery or the NNPC.
This fuelled speculations that the implementation of the policy, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and President Bola Tinubu, may have been frustrated by some powerful persons in the country benefiting from the importation of petrol.
But on Saturday, the federal government said the policy commenced as planned though it did not state the price the commodity was sold to local refiners.
“The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy announced that, in line with the Federal Executive Council (FEC) directive, the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in Naira has officially commenced as of October 1, 2024.
“Following a meeting of the Implementation Committee, chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy on October 3, 2024, to conduct a post-commencement review of the Crude Oil and Refined Products Sales in Naira initiative, the commencement of this strategic initiative was affirmed by key stakeholders.
“The meeting included the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), the Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the representative of the Chairman of Dangote Group, the Vice President of Dangote Group, the management of the NNPC led by the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and the Executive Vice President (Downstream),” a post by the Finance Ministry today said.