By Alabi Williams 04 November 2024 | 3:48 am
Last week, the President of Dangote Group and owner of Dangote Refinery Limited (DRL), Aliko Dangote, again begged petrol marketers to patronise his refinery, which has a stockpile of 500 million liters of petrol for them to buy, instead of signing export papers and doing contracts with foreign companies to import same.
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The DRL is the game changer Nigerians were promised since the collapse of government owned refineries. It was prophesied that the coming of DRL would take away the headache and fraud inherent in importation.
In September 2024, the Minister of Finance and Coordinator of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, had assured Nigerians that October would commence the official supply of crude oil in naira to Dangote and other indigenous refiners. He announced: “From the 1st of October, NNPCL will commence the supply of approximately 385,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Dangote Refinery, which will be paid for in naira.”
Edun had assured that the initiative was to meet local consumption as well as facilitate legal export of petroleum products to neighbouring countries, to earn foreign exchange and grow the economy. The refinery, according to government officials is expected to reduce Nigeria’s forex exchange demand by at least 40 per cent, which prompted the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to execute the “naira for crude” initiative.
Last week, President Tinubu summoned operators and regulators to assess one month of operating the naira for crude policy. This was Dangote’s lamentation at the end of the exercise: “Well, on the streets, one thing that you have to understand is that we are producers. I have a refinery.
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“I’m not in the business of retail; if I’m in the business of retail then you hold me responsible. But what I’m saying is that the retailers should please come forward and pick…so, I’m expecting either NNPC or the marketers to stop importing; they should come and pick because we have what they need. I don’t know whether you understand what it takes to keep a billion litres inside our tank. It’s costing me money every day….”
It gets really pathetic for Nigerians who are told different stories by DRL, the government, NNPCL and marketers; making it look like there’s more to the dissonance. Unfortunately, their backend activities are shrouded in deliberate opacity. The DRL is particularly selective with information, dishing out news that’s is convenient for its operations and ignoring inquiries on cost and pricing.
In their response to DRL, marketers claimed they had written to Dangote to express willingness to buy products from the plant. The Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), claimed they had approached DRL a number of times since 2022, to express interest and reach understanding on the modalities to lift products. But DRL had been playing hard to get, they claimed.
Mr. Billy Gilli-Harry of PETROAN said: “We are willing to patronise Dangote but cannot do it in the air. We have to sit down and have a productive business meeting with him that is transparent enough. That’s the challenge.”
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It’s hard to figure out who is telling the truth and why the unprofitable and lackluster push-backs. At another time, marketers would claim the sector had been fully deregulated and they were free to buy products from anywhere.
The other day, DRL reportedly asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to void import license issued to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Matrix Petroleum Services Limited and four other companies for the purpose of importing refined petroleum products that are already being produced by Dangote without shortfalls.
In that suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, Dangote demanded N100 billion in damages against the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), for allegedly flouting sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act. Nigerians were happy that the truth was set to be uncovered.
But before nightfall, DRL backtracked, claiming the suit in question was an old issue already withdrawn for out-of-court settlement. The back and forth between DRL, NNPCL and the regulators does not mean well for the economy and for the hapless Nigerians who pay exorbitantly for wrong policies. President Tinubu, who is also the minister in charge of Petroleum should put his famed expertise in oil and gas to use.
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In well governed economies, it is incumbent on government to protect the local industry from dumping. It is also the responsibility of government to ensure that citizens are not exploited by monopolies. A careful balancing is always possible, to restrain greed and personal interests of leaders and operators. The conversation among stakeholders should be plain enough for citizens to understand. Let them stop playing games with Nigerians.
Last week, the Federal Government curiously announced it had dropped money laundering charges preferred against Mr. Tigran Gambaryan, an American citizen and executive of Binance Holdings Limited, on grounds of health and diplomatic pressure.
The EFCC counsel told the court that government had reviewed the matter and decided to put it to rest. Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, struck out the charges against Gambaryan and ordered his release from Kuje Correctional Centre, bringing to a halt the celebrated crypto currency matter that lasted eight months.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had arraigned Binance Holdings and Gambaryan on a five-count charge bordering on alleged tax evasion, currency speculation and money laundering to the tune of $34,400,000.
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Earlier, Gambaryan and his accomplice, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who used to be Binance’s regional manager for Africa, were both held in the custody of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, for the alleged crime. Anjarwalla fled the country in mysterious circumstances after he was purportedly given free passage to observe prayers on March 22, 2024. Nobody has been brought to book to explain how the British and also Kenyan citizen managed to flee the country.
Preliminary investigations claimed that Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport and that the personnel responsible for his custody had been arrested, and a thorough investigation was ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from detention.
We were to hear that President Joe Biden of the United States phoned President Tinubu on Gambaryan’s release and used the opportunity to say the U.S. was keen on letting Nigeria have permanent status on the United Nations Security Council, a move diplomats suggested could be a quid pro quo.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, gleefully announced the telephone chat between the two leaders in a briefing with State House Correspondents. He said: “The two leaders exchanged pleasantries and President Biden proceeded to thank President Tinubu for his partnership and in particular for the release of one of the suspects of the cryptocurrency exchange company that we’re all aware of… the two leaders also discussed the issue of the permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council. President Biden, once again, assured that the United States does not see any reason why one of those seats should not belong to Nigeria, given its position in Africa.”
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Very well. However, the EFCC said it will continue with the money laundering case against Binance company without Gambaryan, who is now a free man. There hasn’t been recent conversation on moves to repatriate Anjarwalla to continue the case. Unofficial sources had claimed he was traced to Kenya and all the security agencies were working in conjunction with the Kenyan authorities to return him to face trial. How the case will now proceed after charges have been dropped against Gambaryan, remains a curiosity.
Remember that when the two were arrested, Nigerians were told the activities of the crypto company were responsible for the free fall of the naira in the forex market.Nigerian authorities were resolute that Binance had harmed the nation’s economy by allowing users to transfer funds out of the local currency, causing it to collapse.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had told Nigerians in May 2024, that Binance was fixing foreign exchange in the country and its activities contributed to the naira’s depreciation. He said: “We have saboteurs. Look at what Binance is doing to our economy. That is why government moved against Binance. Some people sit down using cyberspace to dictate our exchange rate, hijacking the role of the CBN.” He also said the government may impose a fine on the platform.
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The Central Bank Governor, Yemi Cardoso, equally affirmed that the country had issues with activities of the platform. According to him, $26 billion passed through Binance Nigeria from sources the CBN cannot identify. He talked of certain practices that go on that indicate illicit financial flows through a number of entities and suspicious flows.
And that was how the NSA’s Office got involved, but it appears this matter is about to evaporate due to claims of diplomatic pressure. Nigerians should not let go; after all, same Binance agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with a group of regulators in the U.S over money laundering allegations. The U.S doesn’t joke with such matters and we should not. There were rumours of some FBI connection and subtle threats to some quarters. Let it be about Nigeria, not about personal misadventures.
The order by a Federal High Court in Abuja, that barred the Federal Government and the CBN from releasing monthly allocation due to Rivers State is not a healthy development for democracy. Many stakeholders had predicted this outcome, given that the judiciary had long descended into Rivers’ chaotic political arena; and it is easy to predict which judge is on the side of Wike’s camp or Fubara’s. This is most shameful.
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Let the Judiciary stop beating about the bush and interpret without bias Section 109 of the Constitution (1999). Politicians are rascally but the judiciary cannot afford to be part of the mob, so that democracy will not die.
Note: This article was first published by The Guardian Newspaper.
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