Dangote Blames Smuggling for Nigeria's Stubborn Petrol Prices
By Aboki Forex —
Aliko Dangote has blamed the smuggling of petrol to neighbouring countries for keeping fuel prices high in Nigeria, even as the country refines more of its own product. The President and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Industries Limited said petrol sells for 30% to 50% more across the borders, which makes moving the product out of Nigeria a quick profit play.
He spoke in an exclusive interview with Arise Television on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. His comment followed the recent increase in the gantry price of petrol by Dangote Petroleum Refinery from ₦1,265 to ₦1,350 per litre, effective September 12, on the back of elevated international crude and petroleum product prices.
Why the price gap drives smuggling
Dangote argued that the question of expensive petrol in Nigeria is relative when set against what consumers pay in neighbouring countries. He said the gap is wide enough to reward traders who move the product across the border.
When asked why petrol remains expensive in Nigeria, he said: ''The expensive is relative in the sense that today, there is ignorance too, what they need to do is to ask what is the neighbour's price. I don't know whether you know there is still a lot of smuggling of the same petrol we are producing to our neighbouring countries.''
''Those neighbouring countries are about 30% to 50% more expensive than in Nigeria. So it's not actually like-for-like. People can now go and ask, what is the price, even now, at N1,350, the price in Niger is 20%, 25% more than in Nigeria. So what business are you going to do that will make you have an instant 25% return? So it means that you will take the risk to go and take it across the border, you pretend that you are taking it to Sokoto, and you go and just take it to Ilela and you sell.''
Refining capacity versus retail reality
Dangote's position is that Nigeria's large-scale refining capacity and its status as a major crude oil producer have not been enough to deliver cheaper petrol at the pump. The pull of higher prices outside the country keeps volumes flowing out, he said, so the local market does not get the full benefit of domestic supply.
The refinery's move to ₦1,350 per litre at the gantry came amid higher international prices for crude and refined products, a cost pressure that feeds into what marketers pay before transport and margin are added.
What it means for the naira and consumers
Smuggled volumes are sold in foreign currency across the border, which means Nigeria loses both the product and the dollars that should have come from legitimate export or local sale. For motorists and businesses, the immediate effect is a pump price that stays high even when domestic refining capacity rises. For marketers, the risk is regulatory, since moving product across the border under the guise of a domestic delivery is illegal trade.