The president of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said the Dangote Refinery crashed the diesel price to N1,000 per litre to make the product affordable and reduce the cost of commodities for the average consumer across the country.
He disclosed this in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Gombe after attending a wedding fatiha of his business associate’s daughter, Alhaji Umaru Kwairanga, the Sarkin Fulanin Gombe.
Dangote added that it is very imperative to ensure that the prices of essential resources like diesel are accessible and affordable to alleviate financial burdens individuals and businesses face when it comes to production and transportation.
According to him, affordable diesel prices will play a key role in driving economic the growth of the country.
He explained that by reducing the cost of diesel, businesses would be able to operate more efficiently, which would ultimately lead to increased productivity, job creation and reduction of the prices of commodities.
“If you look at it, diesel actually affects the life of everybody. The cost of products like tomatoes today for us in Lagos is due to the cost of transportation; and even for us to produce anything, the major cost is diesel. When we looked at it, we decided to try and see how we could bring down the cost,” he said.
He further said there were people that had held on to the business for a very long time and were profiteering, so they decided that diesel should not cost more than N1,000, which is about a 60 per cent drop.
“In places like Borno and Bauchi states, it was selling between N1,700 and N1,800, but I am sure that in the next few days you will not buy diesel at more than N1,000 anywhere in Nigeria,” Dangote assured.