2027: Hashim plans support for Dangote, refineries

• Says local refineries’ll access crude at strategic price
• Plans 1m bpd additional refining capacity
• Insists petrol can sell at ₦605/litre

Accord Party presidential candidate, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has promised to support Dangote Refinery and other qualifying Nigerian refineries with access to locally produced crude at what he described as a strategic domestic price if elected president in 2027.

Hashim said the policy would give Nigerian refineries a cost advantage to compete in African and global markets, while helping transform the country into what he described as a major global energy power.

He made the declaration at the weekend in Ilorin, Kwara State, during a Diaspora Dialogue on “Fuel Subsidy and the Politics of 2027,” anchored by Prof. Farooq Kperogi, Prof. Moses Ochonu and Dr. Osmund Agbo.

Hashim said Nigeria’s crude oil should be used as the foundation for industrial development rather than being treated primarily as an export commodity.

“Nigeria has spent decades giving the world our crude and buying back the value created from it. Our Energy First policy will reverse that equation.

“Our crude is our strategic advantage. We will put that advantage behind Nigerian industry. Refining and petrochemical industries are a core part of our immediate industrialisation strategy as we aim to be the world’s most reliable energy source,” he said.

The Accord candidate said Dangote Refinery and other qualifying domestic refineries would be allowed to access Nigerian crude under a strategic domestic pricing framework rather than compete solely on international crude economics.

“If the crude is Nigerian and the refinery is Nigerian, the Nigerian economy must capture the advantage.

“Our refineries will buy Nigerian crude at a strategic local price, not international crude economics, so they can produce competitively, expand aggressively and conquer international markets, starting first with the African region,” he said.

Hashim, however, said the proposed framework would not be designed to favour Dangote Refinery or any particular company.

“This is not a Dangote subsidy. It is a Nigerian industrial strategy.

“Dangote will benefit because it has invested at extraordinary scale. Other existing refineries will benefit. New refineries will benefit. Any Nigerian refinery that meets the required efficiency, transparency and performance standards will have access to the same framework.

“We are not creating one protected champion. We are going to create an army of Nigerian energy champions,” he said.

Plans 1m bpd refining capacity

Hashim said an Accord administration would use direct government investment and strategic joint ventures to expand Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity by an additional one million barrels per day within three years.

He said the objective would go beyond producing petrol for the domestic market to establishing Nigeria as a major African refining and petrochemical hub.

“We want to be Africa’s refining and petrochemical hub, not just a huge crude exporter.

“We will use government investment strategically and deploy joint ventures where necessary to expand refining capacity, deepen petrochemical production and ensure that Nigerian crude creates value in Nigeria before it is exported,” he said.

Hashim said Nigeria should also seek to increase crude production to support the proposed expansion in domestic refining.

He has separately proposed recovering about 3,000 shut-in and non-producing oil wells and raising crude production to four million barrels per day within 24 months of an Accord administration.

“It makes no economic sense for a country, with thousands of oil wells sitting idle, to behave as though crude is scarce.

“We will recover commercially viable shut-in wells, restore production infrastructure, improve evacuation and security, and bring Nigeria’s lost barrels back into the economy,” he said.

Hashim said increased crude production should be channelled towards domestic industrial development rather than simply expanding exports.

“The real question is not whether Nigeria can produce four million barrels. The real question is; what will Nigeria do with four million barrels? Under our Energy First policy, we will use those barrels to power Nigerian industry.”

Insists petrol can sell at ₦605

The Accord candidate also reiterated his proposal for a starting petrol price of ₦605 per litre, saying the figure formed part of his broader “Energy First” policy.

Hashim has previously said the ₦605 target could eventually fall to between ₦200 and ₦300 per litre if production costs and exchange-rate conditions improve.

“₦605 is not our destination. It is a starting point in a transition from subsidising consumption to building productive capacity.

“We want to make energy cheaper because Nigeria produces more, refines more and captures more value, not because government endlessly pays the difference,” he said.

He said the proposed lower energy costs would be achieved through increased crude production, domestic refining, reduced waste and greater value addition within the country.

“The cheaper energy we are promising Nigerians will not be based on accounting magic.

“It will come from producing more, refining more, wasting less and capturing more value within Nigeria,” he said.

Hashim said the country’s crude should also serve as feedstock for a broader industrial ecosystem covering petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, lubricants, plastics, fertiliser and other petrochemical products.

“We must stop thinking of petroleum as petrol.

“The crude beneath our soil can become petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, lubricants, plastics, fertiliser feedstock, petrochemicals and thousands of industrial products.

“That is where the real economic transformation lies,” he said.

He said an Accord administration would seek to develop supporting infrastructure, including pipelines, ports, storage facilities, electricity, transportation and security, alongside predictable regulation.

“Government will build the ecosystem. Nigerian entrepreneurs will build the companies. Nigerian companies will conquer the markets.

“Our job is to make Nigerian energy companies less dependent on Nigeria’s limitations,” he said.

Hashim said the emergence of the Dangote Refinery had demonstrated the capacity of Nigerian private capital to undertake large-scale industrial projects.

“Dangote has shown the world what Nigerian capital can build. Now Nigeria needs a government with the ambition to match that investment.

“Our job is not to make Dangote dependent on government. Our job is to make Dangote less dependent on Nigeria’s limitations.

“We want to give Nigerian energy companies the crude advantage, infrastructure, policy certainty and strategic support required to compete anywhere in the world.”

He said his proposed Energy First policy was ultimately aimed at ensuring that more value from Nigeria’s crude was retained within the country.

“For decades, the world bought Nigerian crude and created wealth from it elsewhere.

“Energy First will ensure that Nigerian crude creates Nigerian industries, Nigerian companies, Nigerian jobs and Nigerian global champions.

“Local crude. Local refining. Global products. Global markets. Nigerian companies. Global energy power.”