PENGASSAN urges FG to raise NNPC stake in Dangote Refinery to 45%

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, to increase its stake in Dangote Refinery to 45 percent for the country’s energy security.

Festus Osifo, president of PENGASSAN, made the call on Tuesday at a press conference to present its communique and recommendations from the 3rd edition of the PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit” in Lagos.

“The Federal Government should increase the shareholding stake in Dangote Refinery from the current 7 percent to at least 45 percent. This will ensure further energy assurance and security for its citizens,” he said.

The shares of NNPC are held by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated in equal portions, on behalf of the Federal Government. Thus, NNPC Limited’s shares are fully Federal Government owned until private investors acquire shares in NNPC Limited.

According to him, Dangote can take all of his refined products and ship them to different parts of the world if the price is not right, as things stand at the time of the conference.

He said: “The fertilisers produced today (by Dangote), most of them go abroad. So, if you don’t have shareholding there, they can take everything out. But if you have like 45 percent, you can tell Dangote to ship his 55 percent out and give us 45 percent.

“It will shore up our energy security, but it will not make the government to make decisions. You can’t make decisions with a 45 percent shareholding. Decisions are made when you have a 50.1 percent shareholding.

“But if things don’t go well, he can import his crude from any part of the world. He can take his refined products to different parts of the world. Remember, he operates in a free trade zone where he’s not governed by most of the laws in Nigeria.”

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) originally held a 20 percent share in the Dangote Refinery. However, in July, Aliko Dangote, the chief executive officer of Dangote Refinery, disclosed that the NNPC’s stake had decreased to 7.2 percent.

According to Dangote, this reduction occurred because the state-owned oil firm failed to settle the outstanding balance for its share, which was due in June.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday, the business mogul revealed that the Dangote Group had presented NNPC with highly favourable offers worth approximately $2.79 billion, but the state-run oil company was unable to meet its commitments.

He said: “We gave them a good deal. We structured an agreement with them. The deal was about $2.79 billion. The first part of the money was $1 billion which they paid us about a year and a half ago.

“They want to remain at 7 percent. We said okay, fine. So, we left it. Now, we own the rest of the shares. They own only 7.2 percent. That’s what it is. I think they made a big mistake,” Dangote said.

When asked about the possibility of renegotiating with NNPC, Dangote said that the deal is final and there is no turning back.

“There is no more negotiation with us. That agreement is finished. It’s dead. It’s completed. That’s where we are right now.”