Aliko Dangote has advised the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and oil marketers to stop the importation of petrol.
He told them that Dangote Refinery is capable of meeting local needs.
He spoke after a meeting of the Implementation Committee on Crude Oil and Refined Products Sales in Naira in Abuja, which he attended.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who hosted the meeting at Aso Villa, explained that the sale of crude in naira would put the oil sector on an effective lane.
He warned against a “revert to outdated and ineffective methods of the last 40 years”.
Alhaji Dangote said: “I assured Mr. President we will be able to supply the market minimum of 30 million litres per day, and we’ll be ramping up as we go on. So, we’re ready. We’re more than ready.
“What I’m saying is that the retailers should please come forward and load our products.
“If they don’t come forward and pick, what do you want me to do? There is nothing I can do.
“I am expecting either NNPCL or the marketers to stop importing; they should come and buy our products because we have what they need. And you know, as they move, I will be pumping.
“I don’t know whether you understand what it takes to have a billion litres inside our tank. It’s costing me money every day.
“If I am able to collect the naira, I can actually charge somebody 32 per cent in interest. So, right now, that’s what I’m losing.
“And you are talking about 500 million, you know, I mean, we don’t print money. But the issue is that if they come and collect, then you will not see any queues in the filling stations.”
Chairman of the Committee and Finance Minister, Wale Edun, told the reporters that the sale of crude in naira to local refiners had set the economy on the path of industrialisation and modernisation.
