Several online news platforms orchestrated a report that the
650,000 barrels a day Dangote refinery,
which is yet to start production. is already prostate with debts.
The reports also claimed that AMCON was set to take over the
refinery to recover the debts.
AMCON however, rubbished the report.
Head of Corporate Communications at AMCON, Jude
Nwauzor, said neither Dangote Refinery
or the Dangote Group is on its debtors’ list.
Hence AMCON couldn’t have plan to take over the assets.
He said the report is false in its entirety.
The Dangote Group also trashed the report as “false and
malicious”.
Some staffers said
the conglomerate has the capacity
to service its debt.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) got the approval of the Federal Executive Council to buy a 20 percent stake in the refinery at a cost of $2.75 billion.
The refinery, which is an integrated petro-chemical industry
is located in the Lekki Free Zone of
Lagos.
The fertiliser plant that is part of the expansive project
began producing this year.
How the Rumour started
False news about the alleged debt of Dangote Refinery and
its imminent take over by AMCON was first published last week by Money
Management Series (MMS) Plus newspaper in Lagos.
The publication is owned by Kings Communications Limited.
In the report titled, “AMCON May Take Over Dangote Refinery
As Liabilities Swell” it claimed the refinery is in a deep financial crisis as
a result of a $7 billion debt burden – “a situation which indicates a possible
takeover of the project by AMCON”.
It then claimed its in-house analysts projected that the
refinery’s indebtedness to financial institutions would hit $8.4 billion by
2025.
Dangote Group spokesman, Tony Chiejina told the news
platform to pull down the story, which lacked any corroboration from the group,
the banks and AMCON.
But in a jiffy, the fake report had been lapped up by other
news platforms, looking for anything salacious.
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