Dele Oye: NNPC Should Support Local Refineries, Not Compete With Them

Dele Oye says NNPC must help Nigerian refineries grow instead of backing foreign competition against local investors.

Former President of the Organised Private Sector (OPS), Dele Oye, has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to support local refineries instead of exposing them to foreign competition, following the company’s legal dispute with Dangote Refinery.

Speaking in an interview on ARISE News on Wednesday, Oye said NNPC’s responsibility should be to strengthen domestic refining capacity and remove obstacles facing Nigerian investors in the oil sector.

“NNPC duty should be to increase local refineries by providing support, helping them with finance and breaking all these bottlenecks, not to compete with them,” he said.

The dispute followed NNPC’s opposition to Dangote Refinery’s attempt to challenge import licences issued to rival fuel marketers. NNPC argued in court filings that limiting imports could create monopoly risks and threaten supply stability.

But Oye said the argument against Dangote Refinery was misplaced, insisting the refinery had instead broken NNPC’s dominance in fuel importation.

“Dangote’s emergence broke NNPC’s monopoly,” he said.

“For NNPC to now say they want to open the field for Dangote Refinery to compete with foreign petroleum, other refineries, it is not the same easy playing field.”

He said Nigerian refiners operate under more difficult conditions than foreign competitors because they are forced to provide infrastructure independently.

“If you look at the cost of doing business in Nigeria, Dangote had to build his own port, had to provide his own infrastructure, had to provide his own power, everything, even the roads within the refinery,” Oye said.

“Even the land where the refinery is built, he bought it.”

Oye added that foreign refiners benefit from cheaper financing and government-backed infrastructure support unavailable to Nigerian businesses.

“If you now compare this to the foreign refineries who operate on single digit loans and have huge support from the government, the housing bank, everything, it is not the same,” he said.

He argued that governments around the world protect strategic local industries and Nigeria should adopt a similar approach.

“And I think we need to protect our industries,” Oye said.

“Mr. President has already said this. This is the policy of this government, that local refinery is the way to go.”

He also warned that excessive fuel importation without safeguards could weaken Nigeria’s refining industry and discourage investment.

“Even if you have to import like that, you have to put some duty on it so that it will not destroy local refinery capacity,” he said.

Oye described the court battle involving Dangote Refinery and NNPC as damaging to Nigeria’s image and investor confidence.

“It is not a case that should go to court. It is very embarrassing for Nigeria,” he said.