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Dangote Sugar Denies Involvement In Price Fixing, Asserts Its Strong Participation in FG’s Master Plan

Published

4 years ago

April 8, 2021

Editor

Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC (DSR) is aware of an online publication claiming that Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC is engaging in price-fixing and is not honestly engaged in any Backward Integration Programme as claimed.

DSR wishes to vehemently refute the allegations and assertions in their entirety as the false allegations are geared at tarnishing the good name and brand of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and Dangote Industries Limited.

“DSR does not engage in artificial price manipulation of its products, either during the Holy month of Ramadan or at any other time. We have never ever increased price of our food items or commodities during the Holy month of Ramadan in the history of our operations”, according to the Group Managing Director, Mr. Ravindra Singhvi.

He also added that the Company is socially responsible and considers price-fixing to be unethical. Such allegation is highly mischievous and a calculated attempt to smear the reputation of DSR. DSR can only sadly conclude that the online publication is mischievous and geared at creating some form of undue advantage to some Industry players, he said.

He said that the company began its Backward Integration Programme (BIP) with a 10-year sugar development plan, to produce 1.5 million MT per annum of sugar from locally grown sugarcane. The Project commenced with acquisition of large expanse of land in strategic locations such as Taraba State, Adamawa State and Nasarawa State. To this end, three (3) BIP sugar companies; Dangote Taraba Sugar Limited, Dangote Adamawa Sugar Limited, Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited were incorporated.

The Company had commenced rehabilitation and expansion of its Sugar Factory at Numan. Sugarcane planting has also commenced in the two other BIP locations.

DSR has a responsibility to the Government, the good people of Nigeria and the Sugar Industry and all other stakeholders to protect the integrity of the Sugar industry and wishes to assure its stakeholders as follows: It will do all that is necessary to vehemently protect the integrity of the Sugar Industry, it is not engaged in price fixing and it encourages healthy competition amongst the players.

DSR highlighted a matter (BUA’s operation of a Sugar refinery in the Free Trade Zone in Port Harcourt, exporting refined sugar into the Custom territory) which may circumvent the National Sugar Master Plan’s (NSMP) framework and jeopardize its objectives by taking advantage of the location of its Port-Harcourt Refinery in the Free Trade Zone. DSR made this notification to the Hon. Minister of Industry, Trade & Investments bona fide, via its letter to the Minister dated January 28, 2021 asking the Minister to investigate the matter.

“We believe our action is in line with our responsibility as a major stakeholder to alert the supervising Ministry on activities that would derail the plan of the Federal Government in its drive to self -sufficiency in Sugar under the NSMP.

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Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement

Published

2 hours ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.

In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).

The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.

The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.

The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.

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Supreme Court Upholds Election of Monday Okpebholo As Edo Governor

Published

7 hours ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.

In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.

Headline

‘Overthrow’ Comment: Tinubu’ll Be Removed by Votes, Not Bullets, ADC Replies Presidency

Published

7 hours ago

July 10, 2025

Eric

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday, said President Bola Tinubu will be removed through the ballot and not bullets.It dismissed insinuations that the coalition is interested in truncating democracy in Nigeria.

ADC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, accused Tinubu of laying the foundation for a clampdown on opposition leaders.

He made the remark in response to a tweet by Tinubu’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, who alleged that the opposition was planning to overthrow the President.

Onanuga had said the coalition had ganged up to overthrow Tinubu’s administration.Rubbishing Onanuga’s comment, Abdullahi described his remark as reckless and unsubstantiated.

In a statement he signed, Abdullahi said Onanuga’s comment shows that Tinubu’s administration is out to intimidate and repress opposition political leaders in Nigeria.

He noted that ADC would explore Democratic means to ensure Tinubu’s removal from office and not by overthrowing him.

The statement read partly: “ADC condemned the tweet made by an aide of President Bola Tinubu, Onanuga, which alleges that the opposition is planning to overthrow the Tinubu government before 2027.

“If anything, it potentially lays the grounds for systematic clampdown on opposition leaders.

“The ADC is not interested in truncating democracy, we are solely committed to saving the nation from the irredeemable incompetence of this government. We are not soldiers, we are politicians.

“We don’t have bullets; we only have the ballots. When the time comes, we will only present our solutions and an alternative vision of the future to the Nigerian people and leave them to make their choice.”