President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that the company turned down efforts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to acquire additional shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery beyond its existing 7.25 per cent stake.
Dangote made the revelation during an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Nicolai Tangen, monitored on Wednesday.
The disclosure came as fresh industry data showed that petrol supply from the $20bn Dangote refinery in Lekki climbed to 3.18 billion litres in the first quarter of 2026, while fuel imports dropped significantly to 965.52 million litres during the same period.
Analysis of the figures also indicated that the refinery’s average domestic ex-depot petrol price between January and March 2026 hovered around ₦1,000 per litre. This means the refinery supplied petroleum products worth more than ₦3.2tn into the Nigerian market within three months.
The refinery’s export earnings have also surged following tensions between the United States and Iran, which disrupted global oil and energy markets and pushed up demand for refined petroleum products.
Explaining why the NNPC was denied the opportunity to increase its stake, Dangote said the refinery plans to open ownership to more Nigerians through a public offering.
NNPC had purchased a 7.25 per cent stake in the refinery for $1bn in 2021, with an arrangement that allowed it to acquire an additional 12.75 per cent before June 2024. However, the state-owned oil firm later backed out of the plan.
During the interview, Dangote confirmed that the company made fresh attempts to secure more shares in the refinery but was refused.
Speaking on the risks facing his businesses, the billionaire industrialist pointed to policy instability and the possibility of civil unrest.
“Actually, if there are civil wars, which is not in the offing at all.
“The other biggest risk is government inconsistencies in policies, and we are addressing that one because if you look at our refinery, the national oil company already owns 7.25 per cent, and they are trying to buy more. We are the ones that said no; we want to now spread it and have everybody be part of it.”
The NNPC, under its former Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, had earlier reduced its intended ownership in the refinery from 20 per cent to 7.25 per cent.
Dangote had explained the decision in 2024, saying the oil company failed to complete payment for the larger stake.
“The agreement was actually 20 per cent, which we had with NNPC, and they did not pay the balance of the money up until last year; then we gave them another extension up until June (2024), and they said that they would remain where they had already paid, which is 7.2 per cent. So NNPC owns only 7.2 per cent, not 20 per cent,” Dangote stated in 2024.
Dangote further disclosed that future investors in the group’s businesses would receive dividends in foreign currency due to the company’s growing export earnings.
“What we are announcing is that when you invest in any of our businesses going forward, in cement or in the refinery, in petrochemicals, in fertiliser, we guarantee to pay you a dividend in dollars because we are very well into exports. 80 per cent of our revenue will be in dollars,” he said.
He also recounted how the refinery project relied heavily on support from local and international financial institutions after naira devaluation affected the group’s original funding strategy.
According to him, the company initially intended to finance most of the project internally before turning to lenders including Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, UBA, Standard Bank of South Africa and Standard Chartered Bank of the UK.
Dangote said the refinery eventually exceeded expectations after completion.