On Sunday, a spokesperson for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari stated that the Dangote oil refinery, which cost several billion dollars to construct, will be operational in two weeks.
The Dangote Group, founded by billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote, is constructing a 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, in order to lessen the country’s reliance on refined petroleum product imports.
On May 22, a week before he is due to leave office after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution, Buhari’s spokesman Bashir Ahmad said that the refinery in Lagos would be commissioned.
A Dangote spokesman said that the commissioning would take place at the given time but refused to further.
After years of delays, the Dangote refinery cost increased from a projected $12 billion to $14 billion to a stunning $19 billion.