The billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, has said that during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, over ₦2 trillion was siphoned through questionable petrol subsidy claims linked to depot licences.
Otedola stated thisin an issued statement yesterday, backing the Ɗangote Petroleum Refinery (DPR) in its with the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, (DAPPMAN).
Recall that on September 16, DAPPMAN accused the refinery of engaging in market-disruptive practices, claiming that the company’s fuel price cuts were strategically timed to weaken competition rather than to serve patriotic interests.
Countering the group, the Ɗangote Refinery said DAPPMAN allegedly demanded an annual subsidy of ₦1.5 trillion to enable members match the refinery’s gantry prices at their own depots.
Speaking on the issue, Otedola said the petrol subsidy system was structured to favor depot owners, with DAPPMAN members emerging as the main beneficiaries.
According to him: “On subsidy, I personally warned President Goodluck Jonathan that he was being misled. The system was built to benefit depot owners, and DAPPMAN members became the primary beneficiaries”,he said
“Over ₦2 trillion was siphoned through questionable claims, all tied to depot licenses. The policy rewarded neither transparency nor innovation; it encouraged rent-seeking and corruption”.
Addressing what he described as a “a myth that continues to be repeated”, Otedola said depots do not drive employment as some people claim.
A typical depot employs perhaps five people, gatekeeper included. In contrast, a single filling station can provide jobs to dozens of Nigerians – from pump attendants to cashiers, security personnel, and cleaners”, Otedola said.
“If anything, DAPPMAN members should be focusing on owning and scaling last-mile retail outlets, not holding on to tanks built for a fuel import economy that no longer serves us.
“The global picture is instructive. Depots in Amsterdam or Houston were designed to serve export markets, especially Africa. With Nigeria now refining locally, such infrastructure is increasingly unnecessary.The same thing happened in the cement industry”, he further stated.
He said immediately Nigeria started producing cement locally, “the bulk carriers that used to dock at our ports were retired, many sold as scrap. The same outcome awaits fuel depots”.
The billionaire warned that if DAPPMAN members do not adapt, they will become irrelevant, and possibly go bankrupt. “Instead of resisting progress, they should consider selling, restructuring, or investing in new value chains”, he added.
He said if they genuinely believed in competition, they could pool resources to acquire the Port-Harcourt refinery and attempt to succeed where the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had failed.
