President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that his company turned down a request by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to raise its stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Dangote made this known during an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Nicolai Tangen, monitored on Wednesday, May 13.
He explained that the decision was driven by plans to list the refinery publicly, allowing a broader range of Nigerians to participate in its ownership rather than concentrating shares further with the national oil company.
According to him, although NNPC currently holds a 7.25 per cent stake, efforts by the company to increase its equity were declined in line with this strategy.
Speaking on potential risks to his business operations, Dangote pointed to political instability and policy inconsistency as major concerns.
“Actually, if there are civil wars, which is not in the offing at all,” he said.
“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.”
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It would be recalled that NNPC initially acquired a 7.25 per cent stake in the refinery in 2021 for $1bn, with an option to increase its shareholding to 20 per cent. However, the company later opted not to complete the transaction.
Dangote had earlier clarified the situation in 2024, noting that the oil firm retained only the portion it had paid for.
“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.
He also assured potential investors of strong returns, emphasising the company’s foreign earnings capacity.
“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.
Meanwhile, a former spokesman of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, had explained in 2024 that the company reduced its intended stake in the refinery to prioritise investments in compressed natural gas infrastructure.