FOOTAGE of a broadcast programme by News Central TV has been circulated online with a claim that the Dangote Group said it will sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called ‘fuel’ locally to Nigerian markets in US dollars.
An X account, @instablog9ja posted the video with the caption thus:
“Dangote to sell refined products to Nigeria in dollars — News Central.”
The post has garnered over 380,000 views, more than 800 reposts and over 2,700 likes as of March 2, 2024.
Another X user, @obiehieghuakhide, also posted the same footage with a caption that read:
“Dangote don run Nigeria Street.
Dangote to sell refined products to Nigeria in Dollars to service $2.7Billion loan debt after Emefiele claimed he had paid of 70% of his $3.4 billion loan from the CBN. This maths is not matheting O!”
This post has also amassed more than 100,000 views, about 1,000 reposts and over 1,000 likes as of March 2, 2024.
CLAIM
Dangote announced plans to sell fuel to Nigerian markets in dollars.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING.
A milestone was recorded in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector when the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote refinery project began operations.
The project is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility with 1,100 kilometres to handle 3 billion Standard Cubic feet of gas per day. The refinery has a 435MW Power Plant.
The refinery is expected to meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products and also have a surplus of each of these products for export. It is designed to process Nigerian crude with the ability to also process other crude.
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the video in circulation was uploaded by News Central TV on September 26, 2023. But the news had however been clarified by oil marketers in January 2024.
Speaking on the speculation, National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ukadike Chinedu, in a report published by Punch newspaper in January 2024 clarified that even though the crude oil is an international commodity and it was sold to the plant in dollars, this would not make the plant to sell refined petroleum products to the Nigerian market in dollars.
“The legal tender in Nigeria is the naira. The cement being sold by Dangote Cement is done in naira, not in dollar. The spaghetti and other essential commodities that he is involved in are all sold in naira.
“So why should one think that he will now sell fuel in dollars? Except for the offshore sales for those who want to move the refined products out of Nigeria using vessels to transport them to other countries. Such customers may get theirs in dollar equivalent,” Ukadike stated.
Furthermore, when The FactCheckHub contacted the Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, he described the footage alongside the claim in circulation as “fake news”.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Dangote Group announced plans to sell fuel to Nigerian markets in dollars is MISLEADING; the video is an old footage from 2023 and it has been debunked multiple times since January 2024.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.
