Aliko Dangote, Nigeria's richest man, intensified his standoff with regulatory authorities on Sunday. The chairman of the Dangote Group industrial conglomerate accuses them of favoring imports of cheap fuel, a practice he claims jeopardizes local refineries and the country's energy ambitions.

During a visit to his mega-refinery in Lagos, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, the industrialist denounced a strategy that stifles domestic potential. "You don't use imports to counteract domestic potential," he told reporters, emphasizing that this situation creates jobs abroad while Nigeria struggles to industrialize.

Dangote has called for an official investigation into Farouk Ahmed, the head of Nigeria's Petroleum Regulatory Authority (midstream and downstream). He is questioning Ahmed's management of the sector and citing allegations of private spending exceeding his legitimate income. When contacted for comment, Farouk Ahmed did not immediately respond. He had previously claimed that the Dangote refinery was seeking a monopoly on petroleum product sales, while its production, he argued, could not meet local demand.

This conflict arises in a context where Nigeria, Africa's leading oil producer, paradoxically remains heavily dependent on refined fuel imports. The Dangote refinery, touted as the key to ending this dependence and saving billions in foreign currency, is facing obstacles. Its management claims it cannot secure the necessary crude oil supply, accusing the regulator of failing to enforce a rule guaranteeing priority to local refiners before exports.

Challenging the authorities' figures, Dangote claims that regulations underestimate his site's actual capacity by relying on delivery statistics rather than production figures. He reveals that the refinery already imports 100 million barrels of crude oil annually, a volume expected to double after its expansion, due to limitations in domestic supply.

Despite these challenges, Aliko Dangote reaffirmed his commitment to pursuing the facility's expansion plans, describing his investment as "too big to fail." He also reiterated his intention to list the company on the Nigerian stock exchange and pay dividends in US dollars, so that "every Nigerian can own a piece of the economy."