The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has expressed frustration over pricing and access challenges in its dealings with the Dangote Refinery, citing restrictive trade practices that threaten fair competition and operational efficiency in the downstream sector.
Speaking on Wednesday at the West African Refined Products Pricing and Markets Development Conference held in Abuja, Olufemi Adewole, Executive Secretary of DAPPMAN, said members of the association, who operate 32 out of about 120 depots in Nigeria, are still eager to patronise Dangote Refinery but are being locked out of consistent access to petroleum products.
“Since the advent of Dangote Refinery, it has not been smooth sailing at all.
“We had preliminary meetings with the management of Dangote refinery. We had promises and assurances that we will be accommodated. We are ready and up till now we’re still ready and willing to patronise Dangote. But the issue is, is Dangote ready to give us a product we want?”, Adewole queried.
He revealed that despite registering with the refinery, DAPPMAN members encountered what he described as a “restrictive sales method,” where prices are only made known upon receiving a proforma invoice.
“It is when you get in, they now give you a proforma invoice (PFI), but he has a selected group that he wants to trade with,” he said.
According to Adewole, the sales model favoured by the refinery is gantry loading—where trucks load directly from the refinery—a system incompatible with the operating structure of many DAPPMAN members, particularly those with hundreds of retail outlets scattered across Nigeria.
“You cannot tell somebody that has 400 retail outlets spread over this country to bring trucks to Lekki to come and load for 400 filling stations. It’s not feasible, it’s not workable,” he said, warning that such a model could lead to rapid degradation of facilities and logistical breakdowns.
He noted that many DAPPMAN members rely on marine vessels to lift products from refineries to their depots, a method he claimed is selectively allowed for preferred partners by the refinery.
“Dangote releases prices for retail and holds on to coastal prices. This means we cannot access the product,” he explained. “For those selected few partners, this is allowed to them. He gives them coastal supplies, he delivers to them.”
Despite these hurdles, Adewole stressed that DAPPMAN remains committed to sourcing products locally, provided the terms are competitive.
“If we don’t get the product from Dangote, our first option is not to go ahead and import, but rather buy from Dangote because we’re going to buy in naira,” he said. “But if we are getting the product from outside the country and the price is cheaper, of course we will go for it… and that is why you keep having people go to Lomé every time.”
Calling for regulatory intervention, he urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure a level playing field and curb any anti-competitive practices.
“We want them to be able to promote competition and checkmate any anti-competitive act from anybody along the value chain,” he said. “We want them to be able to guarantee the survival of the big players and the survival of the small players.”
Corroborating, Clement Isong, Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), emphasized the importance of regulatory oversight in markets where a dominant player emerges.
“When there is a dominant player, the regulator must intervene to make sure that all players have access to products, goods and services,” Isong said. “Having said that, the regulator also does not want to arrive at a point in time in which there is no other player in the market—there is only one player. That is not a market, that is a monopoly.”
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