By Eyo Nsima
The Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) said it has no plans to take over the Dangote Refinery over debts as reported by some online media.
AMCON said neither Dangote Refinery or the Dangote Group are on its debtors’ list, hence it couldn’t have plan to take over the assets.
Specifically, Head of Corporate Communications at AMCON, Jude Nwauzor, reportedly said the Dangote Group is not even on its debtors list.
Recently, Mr. Wale Tinubu, Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, leading oil and gas downstream sector operators who was on a guided tour of the project alongside members of the company’s senior management said “with what I have seen, this Dangote Refinery is for Nigeria and Africa.”
He had stated that the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote deserved all the commendations in the world for the courage to build the world’s largest single train refinery in one of the most challenging business environment in the world even as the risk premium being at the highest.
Mr. Tinubu had noted that he harboured no doubt within him that the refinery, upon completion, will meet the yearnings of Nigerian for product availability and ultimately de-risk the petroleum sector.
The Oando Plc CEO, had said he felt a sense of pride for being able to witness this feat in the history of Nigeria, noting “It is more than just a refinery, it is a revolution, it is about what is possible in Africa by an African, we are talking about a world class project being done a scale that the world is not used to.
“This is happening in an extremely challenging environment in which all of the infrastructure had to be built from the scratch with the attendant huge additional cost, the cost of capital being high, and the risk premium being highest and done with such spectacular precision. I think the world is not going to see many of these sort of projects. I call it the eighth wonder of my own time.
“It is inspirational and Alhaji Dangote deserves all the accolades. This project is of strategic importance to the nation and the continent. Nigeria has no functional refinery, and it has 200million people that consume 40million litres a day.
“There is nowhere in the world where you have a raw material for something and you do not beneficiate the product to a point where you can consume it in your country. We have been a complete and utter failure when it comes to that and it is taking a private individual to reverse that trend.
“It is an epoch for the country. I think what we should do is to encourage him to complete it. Success for him is a success for the country.”
In his remark, Aliko Dangote had also stated that the refinery is not only a project for Dangote, but also a project for Nigeria.
He said: “Nigeria should be a leader in building facilities like these, as a business initiative. This project will definitely put Nigeria on the map, and surely change the fortunes of Africa.”
