President Bola Ahmed Tinubu praised the progress of Nigeria’s new naira-based crude oil and refined product sales initiative and called on the Implementation Committee to address remaining challenges. At a State House meeting in Abuja, he reiterated that the shift to naira transactions aims to remove exchange rate hurdles and avoid setbacks that hampered the sector over the past 40 years.

The president emphasized that stakeholders, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd (NNPC) and Dangote Refinery, should focus on improving the economy and the well-being of Nigerians by ensuring ample supply of petroleum products domestically, reducing dependence on imports. He urged stakeholders to channel foreign exchange savings toward developing the real sector and advised using Afreximbank as a settlement bank for naira pricing.

“The market must determine what we are doing,” Tinubu said, adding that this approach would foster greater collaboration between independent marketers and the government, supporting long-term energy security and stability for local refineries.

Minister of Finance Wale Edun affirmed that the administration would not revert to past policies or set exchange rates for the oil sector. Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, reported that the Dangote Refinery has over 500 million liters of fuel in reserve and stands ready to collaborate with NNPC refineries to meet Nigeria’s daily demand of 32 million liters.

Federal Inland Revenue Service Chairman Zach Adedeji shared the president’s vision of transforming Nigeria into a global hub for refined products. Other key stakeholders, including Afreximbank President Prof. Benedict Oramah and NNPC Group Managing Director Mele Kyari, attended the meeting, showing strong support for the initiative to bolster Nigeria’s self-sufficiency and export capacity in refined products.