Success Nwogu 
Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, has said approval has been given to the 650,000 bpd capacity Dangote Refinery at Free Zone, Lekki, Lagos as the sole supplier of jet fuel for Nigeria’s airline operators.
He explained that the airline operators, with his approval and support, agreed to allow the refinery to be the exclusive provider of jet fuel to them.
He spoke during an interview with Channels TV yesterday. According to him, the timing of the deal is ideal, since the federal government recently implemented the naira-for-crude agreement with Dangote.
The minister opined that sourcing petrol from Dangote could shield airline operators from the international volatility of crude oil price and so ultimately reduce their operational costs.
Keyamo said: “The airline operators just met recently. With my blessing, it’s a decision from the airline operators in Nigeria that they should only buy from Dangote refinery Jet A1. “You can see that yesterday we started naira-for crude purchase with Dangote. It’s all Naira, no Dollar component.
“The price will no longer be subjected to the varying factors of the international market, nor the headwinds of oil price in the international market. It will be in local currency so we can be clear as to the cost of it. We will buy in naira.
I’m sure we are going to have access to cheaper Jet A1 fuel.” Meanwhile, African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has said that the refinery is as a transformational project, adding that it would transform Africa out of poverty. He spoke when he visited the Dangote Refinery.
He said: “I believe these are the types of transformational projects that would propel Africa out of poverty. Projects like the Dangote Refinery create jobs, have multiplier effect on the national and regional economies, provide cheaper and reliable fuel for transportation, agriculture, and industries.”
