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By Bayo Davids
Abuja-based legal practitioner, Deji Adeyanju, has criticised the Dangote Refinery over its recent decision to increase the gantry price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, from N774 to N874 per litre.
The price adjustment comes amid rising tensions in the Middle East, where renewed hostilities involving the United States and Israel against Iran have rattled global energy markets.
In the past week, coordinated airstrikes and military exchanges in parts of the Gulf region triggered fears of supply disruptions, particularly around strategic oil transit routes. The uncertainty pushed global crude oil prices sharply upward, with Brent crude climbing to about $84 per barrel, up from below $70 just days before the escalation.
Analysts say the spike was driven largely by concerns over possible disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil supply.
Citing these global crude fundamentals and replacement costs, the Dangote Refinery reviewed its gantry price upward.
An official of the refinery was quoted as saying, “the new gantry price is now N874 per litre from N774. The review became necessary due to changes in global crude fundamentals and replacement costs.”
Following the adjustment, several filling stations across the country increased pump prices to as much as N960 per litre, with commercial vehicle operators transferring the additional cost to commuters.
Reacting in a statement sent to our correspondent on Wednesday, Adeyanju faulted the justification offered for the increase, arguing that the refinery’s operations are largely insulated from international shocks.
He said, “Aliko Dangote has hiked the pump price of fuel due to the war in Iran. Yet, the Dangote Refinery purchases crude oil domestically from Nigeria, and the President even approved that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited sell crude oil to the Dangote Refinery in naira.
“What I find even more troubling is the fact that the products currently being supplied were refined long before the recent escalation of hostilities in the Gulf region. Why then should Nigerians bear the burden of a price increase tied to events that did not affect the cost of already-refined stock?”
Adeyanju, who heads the Deji Adeyanju and Partners law firm in Abuja, described the 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity facility as operating in a near-monopoly environment and accused it of exploiting its dominant market position.
He said, “because the refinery operates in a near-monopoly position, the government appears either unwilling or unable to call it to order. This amounts to unprecedented wickedness, as the Dangote Refinery appears to be profiting from the misfortune of war at the expense of already impoverished Nigerian citizens.”
The latest development adds to mounting public debate over fuel pricing in Nigeria’s deregulated downstream sector, where pump prices are now largely influenced by market forces, exchange rates and global crude oil trends.