President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has reiterated his claim that powerful interests within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry wield influence stronger than that of drug cartels, identifying systemic sabotage as one of the sector’s most pressing challenges.
Dangote made the assertion while addressing ongoing security concerns affecting refinery operations, alleging that well-connected networks deliberately damage oil and gas infrastructure in pursuit of personal benefits.
According to him, criminal activity within the sector operates on a scale that exceeds that of the illegal drug trade. He said, “I told you that drug mafia, they’re actually smaller than the people who are in oil and gas. Because most of the people who are in the drugs, you know yourselves, but in the oil sector, there are so many people. In this refinery, we have $82 million of stolen items, and what they were actually trying to do is to make sure that we go and put a massive claim on insurance. That’s why we have more security people in this refinery than actual workers of the refinery.”
He further alleged that acts of sabotage have repeatedly affected Nigeria’s government-owned refineries over the years, citing discussions he previously had with a former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari.
“I don’t know whether Mele Kyari is still in town, but I think you should ask him how many sabotages the Port Harcourt refinery repairs went through. He told me many times that they have had more than 100 sabotages at the refinery. You can ask him. He will tell you,” Dangote said.
Dangote’s remarks have once again drawn attention to the role of powerful interests in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, as well as the difficulties confronting efforts to secure and reform critical energy infrastructure.
