Billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, has waded into the dispute between the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and the Dangote Refinery, urging marketers to restructure and consider acquiring the Port Harcourt Refinery rather than “resisting progress.”
In a statement on Monday, Otedola threw his weight behind the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, warning that the old business model of fuel importation and depot operations was obsolete.
“What is DAPPMAN fighting for today? To preserve a model built on fuel imports, subsidy exploitation, and outdated infrastructure? That era is fast disappearing,” he said.
Otedola said depot operations were originally structured to benefit from subsidy payments and Petroleum Products Import Permits (PFIs), but the removal of subsidy had rendered them largely irrelevant.
“Since PFI is gone, I see no reason why Dangote Refinery should subsidize DAPPMAN with ₦1.5 trillion, which they are demanding, and then pass the cost to consumers,” he added.
He accused DAPPMAN of benefitting excessively from past subsidy regimes, estimating that over ₦2 trillion was siphoned through questionable claims tied to depot licenses. He argued that depots contribute little to job creation, unlike filling stations, and said members should focus on retail operations and new value chains.
Citing global trends, he noted that depots in places like Amsterdam and Houston primarily serve export markets, while Nigeria’s new refining capacity had made many local depots unnecessary. He likened the shift to Nigeria’s cement industry, where local production rendered bulk import carriers redundant.
“If DAPPMAN members do not adapt, they will not only become irrelevant, they may go bankrupt. Instead of resisting progress, they should consider selling, restructuring, or even acquiring the Port Harcourt Refinery to prove they can succeed where NNPC could not,” he said.
Otedola praised the Dangote Refinery’s transformative impact, comparing it to Amazon’s disruption of traditional commerce. He also hailed President Bola Tinubu’s deregulation of the downstream sector, describing it as a bold step that dismantled entrenched interests.
“This singular act has broken the grip of subsidy fraud, rent-seeking, and smuggling, while ushering in transparency, competition, and customer-focused service delivery,” he said.
Reflecting on his role in founding DAPPMAN in 2002, Otedola said the association once had strategic relevance in filling supply gaps but was now clinging to “assets that no longer reflect business realities.” He recalled advising depot owners last year to sell their facilities while they still had value, noting that Nigeria currently has over 4 million metric tons of mostly idle storage capacity.
Otedola also pointed to wider economic benefits of the Dangote Refinery, including reduced port gridlock and the deployment of 8,000 new CNG-powered trucks for nationwide distribution.
“We now have domestic production and reliable local supply. More than just refining, Aliko has upgraded the logistics chain,” he said.
His comments came after DAPPMAN accused the Dangote Refinery of attempting to monopolise the downstream sector through aggressive petrol price cuts. The marketers argued that Dangote’s pricing strategy was designed to sideline competitors.
At the heart of the row is Dangote’s recent purchase of 4,000 CNG trucks to deliver fuel directly to filling stations nationwide, bypassing traditional depot operators.
