OPEF Slams DAPPMAN, Accuses Oil Marketers of Sabotaging Dangote Refinery to Protect ‘Cabal Empire’

|By Adejumo Adekunle

The Oduduwa Progressive Economic Forum (OPEF) has accused the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) of shielding a “cabal” it claims crippled Nigeria’s refineries, sustained the subsidy fraud, and condemned citizens to decades of hardship.

In a statement on Sunday, OPEF’s Executive Director, Dr. Rotimi Adeyanju, blasted DAPPMAN for what it described as “a desperate smokescreen” against the Dangote Refinery, saying the association was fighting to preserve its long-standing dominance of the downstream oil sector.

“Decades of sabotage by these cabals destroyed our refineries, forced Nigeria into perpetual fuel importation, and drained the treasury through subsidy scams,” Adeyanju alleged. “Now, because Dangote threatens their empire of rent-seeking, they are unleashing propaganda.”

DAPPMAN’s Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, had on Saturday warned against “misleading narratives” that credit Dangote with stabilising fuel supply, noting the refinery currently provides only 30–35% of national demand. But OPEF dismissed the remark as a “carefully dressed-up defence of vested interests,” insisting Nigerians have benefitted from Dangote’s price cuts.

“If a domestic refinery reduces pump prices, that is relief for citizens. Only a cartel that grew fat on monopoly would call cheaper fuel a destabilising act,” Adeyanju argued.

The forum further accused DAPPMAN of hypocrisy, recalling past toxic fuel imports, hoarding, smuggling, and scarcity. It urged President Bola Tinubu and regulators to resist “sponsored propaganda” aimed at frustrating local refining.

“The age of deceit by fuel cabals is over,” OPEF declared, calling for policies that protect domestic refineries and ensure transparent competition.