Key Points

• Protesters accuse oil cabal of sabotaging Dangote Refinery.

• Activists urge Tinubu to protect Nigeria’s $20 billion project.

• Dangote warns of vested interests blocking local crude supply.

Hundreds of protesters from the Northern Coalition for Good Governance and Economic Justice blocked major roads in Kaduna on Monday. They accused a “oil cabal” of trying to sabotage the newly opened Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

The protesters marched through the Ahmadu Bello Way and Independence Road corridors, singing songs of solidarity and holding signs that said “Stop the Oil Cartel” and “Protect Dangote Refinery from Sabotage.” They wanted the government to step in.

The Kaduna State Police Command and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps kept an eye on the protest to make sure there was no violence.

Activists say that the oil cabal is trying to ruin the Dangote Refinery

Comrade Yusuf Lawal Ibrahim, the coalition’s national coordinator, told reporters that the protest was sparked by recent reports that powerful fuel importers, including some multinational traders, were trying to stop local refining by lobbying within the government.

According to a report by Vanguard news, Ibrahim said, “These same people controlled Nigeria’s fuel imports for decades.” “Now that Aliko Dangote has spent billions of dollars to end that dependency, they are using problems with crude allocation and rules to hurt the refinery.”

He said that Nigerians had to buy expensive imported fuel even though they had a refinery that could process up to 650,000 barrels of oil per day. He went on to say, “We want President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the NNPC leadership to stand up and protect this project from people who want to make money off of it.”

Energy experts say that once the refinery in the Lekki Free Zone reaches full capacity, it could save Nigeria up to $25 billion a year on imports and help stabilise the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Dangote warns against planned efforts to stop the refinery

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, said recently that the refinery had to import feedstock from other countries because it had to deal with “deliberate obstacles” when trying to get local crude. He said the situation was “painful” and blamed some people for working against Nigeria’s progress.

Dangote said at a business forum in Lagos, “We can’t let vested interests ruin this dream.” “This refinery was built to help people in Nigeria and Africa.”

Shehu Sani, a former senator from Kaduna who joined the rally, said the same thing: “corporate greed” should not be allowed to come before the country’s interests. The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum also told the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to make sure that everyone plays by the rules.

Requests for government protection and an investigation

The protesters ended their march at the Kaduna Government House, where they gave a petition to President Tinubu through Governor Uba Sani. They asked for an immediate investigation into what they called “systemic sabotage” by oil marketers and asked the NNPC to publicly promise to keep the refinery supplied with crude oil.

Ibrahim said, “This refinery shows that Nigeria is economically independent.” “If the cabal wins, the country will always have to import fuel.”