Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has linked the ongoing Dangote Petroleum Refinery initial public offering to the Nigerian Government’s deregulation of the petroleum sector.
Lokpobiri made the statement on Thursday at the National Summit of the Forum of Former Presiding Officers of State Houses of Assembly of Nigeria in Abuja.
The summit was themed, “Bold Leadership, Bold Reforms: From Subsidy to Renewed Hope…”
The Dangote Refinery IPO opened on September 14. It comprises 4.1 billion ordinary shares priced at N525 each and could raise about N2.15 trillion if fully subscribed. The offer is scheduled to close on October 13, 2026.
Speaking at the event, Lokpobiri said deregulation had encouraged private-sector participation and helped create the conditions for Dangote Refinery to emerge as a major player in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum industry.
“I want to take the opportunity to say today that the reason why Dangote’s IPO, which is the largest in the African continent, is successful today is because of deregulation,” he said.
The minister said deregulation had also changed the role of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in the downstream sector.
“Before now, NNPC used to be the sole importer of refined products. We export our crude and we import refined products. Today, NNPC doesn’t import any refined products because NNPC is also a shareholder of Dangote Refinery,” he said.
“We invested strategically in Dangote Refinery; we are a shareholder in Dangote Refinery.”
Lokpobiri said the Nigerian Government supported the public offer and expressed optimism that it would be oversubscribed.
“The IPO that is going on is absolutely supported by this government, and we believe that it will be oversubscribed,” he said.
The offer has a minimum subscription of 10 shares, valued at N5,250, giving retail investors access to the public offer.
Minister links reforms to fuel queues
Lokpobiri also linked the absence of fuel queues since 2023 to reforms in the petroleum sector.
“It’s important for us to know that all these successes are the result of Mr President’s bold decision to completely deregulate the petroleum sector,” he said.
He added, “But since 2023, we haven’t experienced any queues in this country till today. And by the grace of God, we are not going to have such queues.”
Lokpobiri further said petroleum-sector reforms were contributing significantly to Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. He put their contribution at about 85 per cent.
He also said Nigeria’s foreign reserves stood at about $54 billion. The Federal Ministry of Finance separately said reserves had recovered to more than $52 billion, while the figures cited in the source material put the latest reserves at $54.61 billion as of September 14.
The minister also recalled the foreign-exchange backlog previously owed to foreign airlines.
He said the Nigerian Government had cleared about $7 billion in outstanding obligations to airlines.
“Don’t also forget that before Mr President came, the airlines in Nigeria couldn’t repatriate their returns, and so airlines like Emirates and some other airlines even suspended operations,” he said.
“The debt then was almost $7bn. That was cleared. If that debt wasn’t there, and that $7bn was added to the $54bn, today our forex, I mean, our foreign reserves, would have been over $60bn.”
Call for reforms to continue
Lokpobiri urged the former presiding officers of state Houses of Assembly to communicate the administration’s reform message in their respective states.
He said they had a role in explaining the government’s policies and reforms to citizens.
“I want to say that, look, you as leaders, former presiding officers of this country, you owe this country a duty to go to your respective states and take this message home: why President must be re-elected so that we can sustain these gains that we have made as a country,” he said.
His call for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election was presented as a political appeal from the minister, rather than an independently established assessment of the administration’s record or the likely outcome of the 2027 election.