Post #378

Oil Tycoon Sacked Two Officials in Nigeria🇳🇬 ⚡️Nigerian President Tinubu unexpectedly dismissed the heads of two key oil and fuel regulators just 2 days after one of them was publicly accusedof corruption by oil mogul Aliko Dangote. ❓ What's the chance of this being a genuine fight against corruption, or does the richest man in Africa now decide who holds public office in Nigeria? ➡️Over these days Nigerians probably saw a typical political performance played by the oil tycoon and the country's president. To strengthen the position of his Dangote Refinery, the mogul needed to get rid offuel inflows from abroad. This in turn required either making imports unprofitable, or creating legal obstacles for importers. ➡️The mogul did have Nigeria's leader on his side. In October the government had already planned to introduce a 15% duty on imported fuel. However, once this plan was leaked, it triggered public fears of rising fuel prices, so the introduction was delayed until 2026. ➡️The other option was to obstruct imports through administrative barriers. However, this ran into resistance from the now dismissed heads of the regulators, especially Nigeria's downstream regulator chief Farouk Ahmed, responsible for issuing import licenses, who, either out of conviction or links to fuel marketers, defended fuel imports into the country. ➡️Because the petroleum prices will inevitably rise as a result, for the president the decision to replace them had to be wrapped up in a positive narrative, namely the fight against corruption. That way, fewer people would accuse him of indulging the oil mogul + he may avoid losing political capital because of rising prices. ➡️To fast-track the process, the anti-corruption narrative had to originate from some reputable source other than official investigation — the role which Dangote eventually assumed himself. 🔽 So, Nigeria is now on the track towards lower dependency on imports at the cost of utmost reliance on Dangote and his fuel business. The only remaining question is what Nigeria's president wants to get out of it. Maybe the tycoon's endorsement in the 2027 elections? ➡️Follow to stay informed - @devilsbelow