The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has finally stopped the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to major marketers importing petroleum products into Nigeria.

An official of the refinery confirmed this to our correspondent, saying the refinery would no longer sell petrol to those blending Dangote fuel with imported grades.

“We are not selling petrol to those who are importing, since they are trying to blend our high-quality products with their ultra-low-quality imported products,” the source said, pleading for anonymity because he was not permitted to speak with the press.

Another source told our correspondent that the refinery now prefers to sell its petrol to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and others not known for importing. “We are selling to independent marketers and others who are not importing,” he stated.

It was learnt that the development informed why some marketers went to court to get an order that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority should continue to grant them import licences.

The marketers feared that they might be left stranded if they could not import fuel at a time when the Dangote refinery had halted petrol sales to them. Dangote had earlier threatened to stop transacting business with fuel importers, whom it accused of blending its Euro-5 petrol grade with imported grades.

It is concerned that such practices could make it difficult to distinguish between products supplied directly by the refinery and products subsequently blended or handled by third parties.

“It is difficult to understand why we would invest heavily in producing high-quality petroleum products for Nigerians, only for those products to be mixed with imported products of uncertain quality and the resulting product to be associated with the refinery,” the refinery said last month.

Reacting, importers and petroleum marketers kicked against the restriction of petrol sales to marketers who import petrol, describing the move as an attempt to block imports. The marketers also challenged the refinery to provide evidence that imported petrol entering the Nigerian market is below the required quality standard.

The marketers, who preferred not to be mentioned, accused Dangote of trying to prevent the importation of petrol. “We know what Dangote is trying to do. He is just trying to block imports,” one of the marketers said. The marketer argued that a company that sells petrol could not dictate whether a consumer should combine its product with fuel purchased from another supplier.

Using the example of motorists buying petrol from different filling stations, the marketer said Dangote could not prevent consumers from combining products sourced from different suppliers.

“For example, when you buy petrol from a TotalEnergies station, and you go down the road, and your petrol is almost finished, you then buy from MRS. Can TotalEnergies say you should not mix its petrol with MRS petrol? No, it can’t. I don’t understand the game that the Dangote refinery is playing,” he stated.

Another marketer also argued that the Federal Government had a responsibility to ensure an adequate petrol supply and protect consumers, insisting that imports remain necessary when domestic production drops.

Speaking, the National Vice Chairman of the IPMAN, Hamed Fashola, stated that the Dangote refinery is selective about who it sells petrol to because not all major marketers import.

“I don’t know how far that is correct; Dangote now sells to only IPMAN. I think somehow the information I have is that Dangote is selective about it, say those that are involved in importing. I think it’s not everybody that is importing,” he said.

Clarifying IPMAN’s purchasing position amid market competition, Fashola noted that independent marketers operate flexibly to secure the most competitive pricing, sourcing supply indiscriminately from both local refineries and importers.

“We buy our product anywhere we feel it is cheap. Anywhere we see the product, we go for it, both Dangote and the importers. We always go for the best price,” Fashola stated.

Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of the IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, expressed the belief that the Dangote refinery is open to doing business with anyone.

Ukadike noted that independent marketers are ready to buy and sell petrol from all suppliers, stressing that they were not currently involved in importing the product.

While saying he would not know if importers truly blend Dangote’s petrol with imported petrol, he concluded that Dangote is in the best position to determine whatever it can do to discourage blending.

“I believe that the Dangote refinery is open for business and that it will continue to sell to marketers. The issue of blending, I cannot say yes or no, because I’m not part of those who are importing. Independent marketers are not importing yet; we are just marketers who buy and sell.

“So, if there is any measure to discourage adulteration of petroleum products by Dangote, I think the refinery and its experts know best. They know the best way to deal with that. But our own is to continue to buy and sell to marketers. If there is a way to discourage adulteration of petroleum products, I won’t stop Dangote from doing so,” Ukadike added.

Source: punchng.com

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Electricity distribution companies collected N603.64bn from customers in the second quarter of 2026, despite a decline in the volume of electricity they received from the power market.

The figure was contained in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s second-quarter 2026 report, which showed that the average energy offtake by the DisCos at their trading points fell to 3,197.03 megawatt-hours per hour in the quarter.

The Q2 figure represented a 112.45MWh/h, or 3.40 per cent, decline from the 3,309.48MWh/h average recorded in the first quarter. Despite the decline in offtake, the DisCos recorded an overall offtake performance of 94.07 per cent during the quarter, against available partially contracted capacity of 3,398.41MWh/h.

According to the report, the DisCos received a total of 6,982.32 gigawatt-hours of electricity during the quarter but billed customers for only 5,812.31GWh. It stated, “This translates to an overall energy accounting efficiency of 83.24 per cent and represents a 0.24pp decrease compared to 2026/Q1 (83.48 per cent).”

The report further revealed that the naira value of electricity off-taken by the DisCos stood at N946.57bn, while the total value of energy billed to customers was N744.67bn.

This translated to a billing efficiency of 78.67 per cent, representing a decline of 0.57 percentage points from the 79.24 per cent recorded in the first quarter. At the collection stage, the DisCos recovered N603.64bn from the N744.67bn billed to customers, translating to a collection efficiency of 81.06 per cent.

The report said this represented an improvement of 2.11 percentage points from the 78.95 per cent recorded in Q1. However, the difference between the amount billed and the amount collected stood at N141.03bn during the quarter.

The report also disclosed that the weighted average Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection losses across the 11 DisCos stood at 36.23 per cent in Q2.

It stated, “The ATC&C loss of 36.23 per cent is 19.31pp higher than the 2026 MYTO target (16.92 per cent) and translates to a cumulative revenue loss of N129.07 billion across all DisCos.”

The 36.23 per cent loss, however, represented a 1.21 percentage-point improvement from the 37.44 per cent recorded in Q1.

The report noted that all the DisCos failed to meet their ATC&C targets during the quarter, with “Kaduna DisCo recording the worst underperformance relative to the target (Actual – 67.70 per cent vs target – 18.18 per cent),” it stated.

On market obligations, the report said the cumulative upstream invoice payable by the DisCos stood at N410.38bn in Q2.

The amount comprised N326.46bn for generation costs from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company and N83.92bn for transmission and administrative services provided by the market operator.

The DisCos collectively remitted N385.44bn, comprising N306.62bn to NBET and N78.82bn to the market operator, leaving an outstanding balance of N24.94bn. This represented a market remittance performance of 93.92 per cent, slightly lower than the 94.08 per cent recorded in Q1.

The report added that the Federal Government had taken responsibility for about 50 per cent, or N321.26bn, of the total generation costs through subsidies arising from the freezing of end-use customer tariffs at the rates applicable in July 2024.

Meanwhile, three international bilateral customers purchasing electricity from grid-connected generating companies paid $8.67m against an $18.84m invoice issued by the market operator during the quarter.

This represented a remittance rate of 46.02 per cent. Domestic bilateral customers, on the other hand, paid N6.91bn against an invoice of N7.55bn, representing a remittance rate of 91.54 per cent.

Source: punchng.com

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Personal loans obtained by Nigerians rose to an estimated N2.06tn in May 2026, as consumer credit continued to expand amid persistent cost pressures and weak consumer spending, according to the latest Economic Report of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The figure, calculated from data contained in the CBN’s May 2026 Economic Report, represents about 64.78 per cent of the N3.18tn total consumer credit outstanding during the month. The report covers developments in the real, fiscal, financial and external sectors of the economy.

The apex bank said consumer credit increased by 1.60 per cent from N3.13tn in April to N3.18tn in May, indicating that Nigerians borrowed an additional N50bn within one month.

It said, “Consumer credit outstanding increased by 1.60 per cent to N3.18tn from N3.13tn in the preceding month, driven by growth in personal and retail loans, which rose by 1.98 and 0.90 per cent, respectively.”

The CBN added, “Personal loans remained the dominant component of consumer credit, accounting for 64.78 per cent, while retail loans constituted 35.22 per cent.”

Based on the proportions reported by the apex bank, personal loans stood at approximately N2.06tn at the end of May, while retail loans amounted to about N1.12tn.

The 1.98 per cent month-on-month increase in personal loans suggests that the balance rose by roughly N40bn during the period. Retail loans, which include credit tied more directly to the purchase of goods and services, recorded a slower increase of 0.90 per cent.

The figures show that personal borrowing remained the main driver of Nigeria’s consumer-credit market, accounting for nearly two-thirds of outstanding credit.

The increase came against a challenging operating environment for households and businesses. The CBN reported that economic activity remained weak in May, with its composite Purchasing Managers’ Index at 49.60 points, slightly higher than 49.40 points in April but still below the 50-point threshold separating expansion from contraction.

According to the bank, the contraction reflected subdued demand, declining new orders and elevated production costs. It also identified weak consumer spending and higher energy-related costs as pressures on the industry and services sectors.

Inflation also remained elevated during the period. Headline inflation increased to 15.93 per cent in May from 15.69 per cent in April, which the CBN attributed to persistent cost pressures and higher energy prices. However, month-on-month inflation slowed to 1.75 per cent from 2.13 per cent.

The combination of rising consumer credit and weak consumer spending suggests that households were increasingly accessing credit at a time when living and operating costs remained under pressure.

A recent report Enhancing Financial Inclusion & Advancement noted that four in every 10 Nigerians borrowing from formal financial institutions now take loans mainly for consumption and coping needs, as rising financial pressures increasingly push credit away from productive activities.

The 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey revealed that 40.8 per cent of formal borrowers used loans for coping and consumption, up sharply from 31.7 per cent in 2023.

The 9.1 percentage-point increase made coping and consumption the largest purpose of formal credit, overtaking productive enterprise borrowing, which fell from 40.2 per cent to 34.3 per cent during the same period.

Borrowing for household assets also declined from 25.2 per cent to 23.4 per cent. The report warned, “Coping/consumption purposes rose from 31.7 per cent to 40.8 per cent; productive purpose fell from 40.2 per cent to 34.3 per cent. We need to ensure that credit builds productive capacity and does not produce distress.”

Formal credit use increased from six per cent of adults in 2023 to 10 per cent in 2026, with about 11.9 million Nigerians borrowing from regulated providers. When informal sources were included, 36 per cent of adults had access to some form of credit.

Credit use among informally employed Nigerians tripled from five per cent to 15 per cent, while borrowing among people aged 18 to 35 rose from four per cent to 10 per cent. Business owners recorded an increase from four per cent to 10 per cent, while farmers rose from two per cent to six per cent.

However, the report found significant distress among borrowers. About 45.8 per cent of formal-credit users reported some or serious repayment stress, while 83.8 per cent experienced ongoing financial stress.

Source: punchng.com

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