Billionaire businessman Femi Otedola has alleged that more than N2 trillion was siphoned through questionable subsidy claims during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, with depot licences serving as the main channel of abuse.
Otedola spoke while expressing support for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in its ongoing faceoff with the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria. The association had accused the refinery of using price reductions to disrupt the market, insisting that the cuts were designed to weaken competition rather than serve national interest.
In response, Dangote Refinery maintained that the association had allegedly demanded an annual subsidy of N1.5 trillion to help its members match the refinery’s gantry prices at their depots.
Backing the refinery, Otedola insisted that the subsidy regime was deliberately designed to favour depot owners, who in his words became the biggest beneficiaries of the policy.
“I personally warned President Goodluck Jonathan that he was being misled on subsidy. The system was built to enrich depot owners. Over N2 trillion was siphoned through questionable claims tied to depot licences. That arrangement rewarded neither transparency nor innovation, it only encouraged corruption,” Otedola said.
He went on to dismiss what he described as the myth that depots create employment. According to him, most depots employ only a handful of people including a gatekeeper, while filling stations provide jobs for dozens of Nigerians ranging from attendants to cashiers, cleaners and security staff.
Otedola advised members of the association to accept that their facilities had become outdated and adjust to the nation’s changing economic realities. He cited the transformation of the cement sector as an example, where bulk carriers were phased out after Nigeria achieved self sufficiency in cement production.
“The same fate awaits fuel depots. Those who refuse to adapt risk irrelevance and even bankruptcy. Instead of fighting change, they should consider selling, restructuring or investing in new value chains,” he said.
He challenged the association to prove its commitment to competition by pooling resources to acquire the Port Harcourt refinery and attempt to succeed where the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had failed.
