By Bizwatch Nigeria Limited,Ibe Wada
Copyright bizwatchnigeria
Billionaire businessman and philanthropist, Femi Otedola, has advised the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) to adapt to current realities in the downstream oil sector or risk obsolescence, declaring that the association has “outlived its usefulness.”
Otedola, in a statement on Sunday, weighed in on the ongoing disagreement between the Dangote Refinery and DAPPMAN over fuel supply terms. He commended Aliko Dangote for what he described as a “historic leap” towards Nigeria’s energy independence, insisting that entrenched interests can delay but cannot halt change.
Recalling that he founded DAPPMAN in 2002 to challenge the dominance of major marketers, Otedola said the association had served its purpose at the time by bridging supply gaps in an inefficient downstream market. However, he noted that today’s realities — including local refining capacity and idle storage facilities — render its traditional model outdated.
“Many of the original players have exited the scene, and those left are clinging to assets that no longer reflect today’s business realities,” Otedola stated. “Nigeria now has over four million metric tonnes of storage capacity, most of it idle. With the Dangote Refinery now supplying fuel locally, the old business model is crumbling.”
He argued that depots, once critical to an import-driven system, are increasingly redundant in a deregulated, locally supplied market. Otedola dismissed claims that depots generate significant employment, contrasting them with filling stations that provide far more jobs across the value chain.
Highlighting the Dangote Refinery’s 8,000 eco-friendly CNG trucks as an example of industry transformation, Otedola urged DAPPMAN members to reposition themselves by investing in retail outlets or exploring new value chains, rather than clinging to “outdated privileges.”
Drawing parallels with Nigeria’s cement industry, which rendered bulk carriers redundant after local production took off, he warned that fuel depots face the same fate. He suggested that DAPPMAN members consider selling, restructuring, or even acquiring and operating the Port Harcourt Refinery if they wish to prove their competitiveness.
Otedola also lauded President Bola Tinubu for implementing full deregulation of the downstream sector, crediting the reform with breaking entrenched interests and fostering transparency, competition, and accountability.
“The era of subsidy exploitation, rent-seeking, and arbitrage is over,” he said, recalling how fraudulent subsidy claims worth up to N2 trillion under the Goodluck Jonathan administration were tied to depot licences. “DAPPMAN had its place, but its relevance is fast fading. Aliko’s refinery is not the problem; it is the solution. We must move forward.”
