AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
Bulk fuel buyers and filling stations across the country are bypassing middlemen to take advantage of the Dangote Refinery’s newly introduced free delivery system.
The refinery recently launched a direct fuel distribution scheme, which allows petrol to be supplied directly to filling stations, telecom companies, and other bulk users at no extra cost.
Speaking on a live programme on TVC News, the President of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Yusuf Othman, expressed concern over the development.
He condemned the free delivery model, noting that it was threatening existing contracts between fuel buyers and truck owners.
According to him, NARTO members, who operate about 30,000 trucks nationwide, cannot afford to compete with Dangote’s free logistics offer.
He added that many members had taken bank loans to purchase their trucks based on formal agreements with marketers, which were now at risk of being abandoned.
“If I sign an agreement with you for service by virtue of my 10 trucks, and somebody comes to do the same thing for you free of charge, it’s a very delicate situation,” Othman warned. He appealed to Dangote to consider the survival of other players in the sector.
Dangote Refinery began its logistics-free distribution last Monday, deploying over 1,000 trucks to Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Kwara states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The initiative also came with a reduction in petrol prices. Under the new pricing, Lagos and other South-Western states will purchase fuel at N841 per litre, while Abuja, Rivers, Delta, Edo, and Kwara will buy at N851 per litre.
Confirming the new arrangement, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Shettima, said Dangote trucks had already started delivering fuel to their stations at no cost.
He explained that pump prices would drop from N865 to N841 once the deliveries reached the filling stations.
