The Presidency last night granted the request by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, to proceed on an “indefinite leave” to enable him attend to pressing medical matters affecting his immediate family.

Ngelale, in a statement on his general communication WhatsApp platform, said he had on Friday submitted a memo to the President’s Chief of Staff on his decision to pause his functions, including his roles as Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

He said the decision was made after consultations with his family, owing to a worsening vexatious medical situation at home.

He expressed hope to return to full-time national service when circumstances permitted.

He, however, requested privacy for his family during this challenging time.

His leave of absence takes effect immediately, with no specified date for his return.

The Presidency, in a statement last night, said President Tinubu “fully understands and sympathises with the circumstances that have led to this difficult decision.”

He extended “our heartfelt prayers and best wishes to Chief Ngelale and his family during this difficult period, hoping for a speedy recovery and restoration to health.”

It said while Ngelale’s tireless efforts and dedication in serving the nation would be missed, it was grateful for the remarkable contributions he has made in his “various capacities, especially in advancing discourse and leading efforts on climate action and other key initiatives.”

The President wished him well in all his future endeavours and “looks forward to welcoming him back to national service when the time is ripe.”

He also asked that Ngelale’s wish for his privacy and that of his family be respected during “this period.”

Ngelale who assumed office as Special Adviser on 31st July, 2023 also served as Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in an August 1, 2023 statement announced  his  appointment.

It said:” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has approved the appointment of Chief Ajuri Ngelale as the Official Spokesperson as well as the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

“The appointment takes effect from 31st July, 2023 and would terminate at the end of this administration unless otherwise decided by the President.

“The President urges him to bring his wealth of experience to bear on the new assignment.”

The Dangote refinery may resort to exporting its Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) following the refusal of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to be the sole buyer of its product.

The NNPC, in a statement by its spokesman, Olufemi Soneye, said on Saturday that it would not buy Dangote fuel unless it was cheaper than that of the international market.

This is contrary to claims by the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, that the refinery was waiting for the NNPC to roll out its product.

On Saturday, the NNPC stated that it would only fully offtake petrol from the refinery if the market prices of PMS were higher than the pump prices in Nigeria.

The NNPC also declared that Dangote and other domestic refineries were free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, adding that it had no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment.

The company was reacting to a press release by the Muslim Rights Concern, which claimed that the Dangote refinery was being undermined by the NNPC.

MURIC stated that recent changes to the pump price of petrol by the NNPC would prevent the refinery from offering lower prices, and that the corporation had become the sole offtaker of all products from the refinery.

Responding, the NNPC said, “The pricing of petroleum products from any refinery, including Dangote Refinery Limited, is determined by global market forces.

“The recent changes in PMS prices have no impact on DRL or any other domestic refinery’s access to the Nigerian market. In fact, if current prices are perceived as high, it presents an ideal opportunity for the refinery to sell its products at lower prices in the Nigerian market.

“Furthermore, we emphasise that there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the DRL. The NNPC Ltd will only fully offtake PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria. The DRL and any other domestic refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, which is the current practice for all fully deregulated products. NNPC Ltd has no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment, and therefore, the notion of becoming a sole off-taker does not arise.”

Soneye added that the NNPC could not undermine a business in which it held a billion-dollar investment.

Dangote’s wait

While unveiling the 650,000-capacity refinery on Tuesday, Dangote had stated that the facility would roll out petrol whenever the NNPC was ready.

Dangote disclosed that petrol would get to the filling stations in the next 48 hours (from Tuesday) after all arrangements with the NNPC were concluded, adding that the queues would soon be over.

“Our PMS can be in filling stations within the next 48 hours, depending on NNPCL,” he said.

He spoke further, “We are ready. I pray that within the next few days, you won’t see any petroleum queues as soon as we finalise with NNPC. We are ready, we are waiting for them (NNPC) and I hope they will be ready like yesterday.”

Dangote told newsmen that he could not disclose the price of the petrol because the NNPC was in a position to control it.

“On the pricing, I can’t say anything because we don’t control the pricing. At the moment, it is controlled by NNPC, not Dangote. We will wait for them. But, our own for now is to make sure that the product is available and round-tripping is stopped,” he noted.

The businessman emphasised that the NNPC was the company that would sell and distribute the product under the current naira crude sale arrangement.

“Once the NNPC is ready, we roll. We are even ready to load a ship this week,” he added.

Product export

But it seems the talk between the two companies have collapsed, which may result in the company selling its petrol abroad.

The NNPC has issued several statements denying that it will fix the price for Dangote or be its sole off-taker, even as the refinery has yet to roll out its product.

Nigerians have wondered why the NNPC decided to hike the pump price of petrol the same day Dangote refinery unveiled its petrol, after several months of implicit subsidy payment.

The masses, who were hopeful that the Dangote fuel would crash the price of petrol, may be losing hope.

Speaking on the Brekete Family live show on Monday, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, said Dangote petrol would be exported if the NNPC and other petroleum dealers in the country refused to patronise it.

Asked if the petrol would be sold locally, Edwin replied, “There has been a kind of a blockade from lifting our products within the country. The traders have been trying to blockade, and so now, we have been exporting our petroleum products. We are ready to pump in PMS as much as possible to the country.

“But if the traders or NNPC are not buying the product, obviously we will end up exporting the PMS as we are doing with the aviation jet and diesel,” he declared.

Edwin expressed surprise that the company started facing challenges it never expected when the refinery was set to commence operations.

He recalled that the philosophy initially was to add value to the raw materials available in the country, regretting that Nigeria was still exporting crude and importing refined petroleum products after over three decades.

Despite having a gantry that can load 2,900 tankers per day, Edwin disclosed that the refinery had not loaded up to five per cent of the gantry’s capacity owing to low local patronage.

In an interview with our correspondent, a professor of Economics at the University of Ibadan and President of the Nigerian Economics Society, Adeola Adenikinju, advised that the government and the NNPC should buy PMS from the Dangote refinery instead of importing from another country.

“Dangote refinery is a private business; he will export to where he can make money. He cannot be subsidising our economy. It is still going to be cheaper for the NNPC to buy from Dangote than to import from Europe. Dangote has to run the business and pay his debts, he can’t subsidise us,” Adenikinju noted.

IPMAN ready to buy fuel

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria on Saturday said it would buy PMS from Dangote at any price, even if the NNPC refused to buy.

The National President of the association, Abubakar Maigandi, told our correspondent that the independent marketers were ready to patronise Dangote.

“Whatever the case, if Dangote starts selling his product, we are going to patronise him; if at all he wants to do business with us.

“We are ready to buy at any price because the NNPC is saying that they don’t want to involve themselves in fixing prices. So, at any price that he wants to sell, we are ready to buy and discharge and sell at a good price,” Maigandi stated.

Members of IPMAN own about 80 per cent of the filling stations in Nigeria, especially in rural communities.

On Thursday, the NNPC also said it was waiting for a September 15 timeline given to it by the refinery.

However, the latest comments from the NNPC indicate all is not well with the negotiations between the two companies.

The spokesman for the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, did not answer calls or reply messages sent to him by our correspondent on Saturday.

Black marketers sell fuel N1,400 in Benue

Meanwhile, black marketers are making brisk business as most filling stations in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, closed for business.

Since the hike in the price of the petroleum product, many filling stations have been shut down while the black market has resurfaced.

Our correspondent, who monitored the situation in Makurdi on Saturday, observed that several filling stations were not operating while black marketers were using their frontage to sell the product to motorists.

The product was sold between N1,300 and N1,400 per litre.

This development resulted in few vehicles plying the roads, while transport fares skyrocketed and people resorted to trekking.

Motorists crowd NNPC stations for fuel

Despite the promise made by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, that fuel would be available in filling stations by the weekend, the situation in Ondo State has not improved.

A visit to some filling stations in Akure, the state capital, showed that many petrol stations were still under lock and key following unavailability of the product, while NNPC stations with the product had long queues.

Also, some stations of the independent marketers were selling for between N950 and N1,100 per litre.

In Ekiti State, many petrol stations dispensed petrol to customers, while a few did not have the product.

But the price was between N950 and N1,200 per litre at the stations dispensing petrol.

Long queues of vehicles were at the few stations selling the product at between N950 and N960 per litre.

A self-employed man, Mr Abel Olode, who said he bought some litres of petrol for N960 per litre on Friday, said, “I parked the car at home and boarded a motorcycle to my place of work today. Using it daily will drain my finances.”

Filling stations belonging to major marketers in Ogun State sold fuel for between N868 and N890 per litre, while independent marketers sold for between N950 and N1,200 per litre.

The NNPC outlets, however, sold at N865 per litre.

A motorist, Adeolu Bashir, said, “Nothing has changed with the fuel situation. The independent marketers are selling the fuel for N1,200; meanwhile, not many of the filling stations are selling the product.”

As of September 7, 2024, independent marketers in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, were dispensing fuel at N1,100 and N1,200 per litre. There were no long queues in most of the filling stations in the city

Long queues still persisted in most of the filling stations in Zamfara State, despite the hike in fuel price.

Most of the filling stations, controlled by IPMAN in Gusau town and other parts of the state, were selling a litre of fuel between N1,100 and N1,150.

There was no fuel in all the mega stations visited by Sunday PUNCH as of the time of filing this report.

Despite the scarcity of PMS in some states, the product seemed to be available in most filling stations across the 13 LGAs of Nasarawa State.

When our correspondent visited some of the stations in Lafia, the state capital, on Saturday, it was observed that there were no queues.

The prices of PMS in Obi, Awe, Keana, Doma, Toto and Nassarawa Eggon LGAs had skyrocketed to N1,100 per litre.

Filling stations such as Sandaji, Hayattu, Alh Dauda Muhammadu, Nagoda, Rainoil among others, all sold at N990 per litre.

Meanwhile, the product is currently being sold between N1,200 and 1,400 by the black market dealers in several locations across the state.

In an interview with our correspondent, one of the black marketers, Musa Inusa, said getting the product had become “extremely difficult” for him because of the strict restrictions and increase in price.

Credit: PUNCH

A former Senator representing Kaduna Central District in the 8th National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has reacted to the temporary leave off work by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.

In a statement issued by the Presidency on Saturday, Ngelale said he had submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Friday informing him of his plan to proceed on indefinite leave.

Ngelale added that he has temporarily stepped down as the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

According to Ngelale, he stepped down from his role to deal with medical matters presently affecting his immediate family.

Reacting to the development in a post via his official X handle, Sani stated that Ngelale can now rest well, switch off his phone and even regain his weight.

He wrote, “Ajuri can now rest well, sleep well, eat well, switch off his phone and even add some weight.”

On August 1, 2023, Ngelale was appointed as the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity.

According to a statement from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the appointment took effect on July 31, 2023, and will terminate at the end of this administration unless otherwise decided by the President.

On May 19, 2024, Tinubu appointed Ngelale as the first Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action. He was also appointed as the Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen and Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Climate Action and Green Economic Solutions.