A purported video of Joe Biden, President of US, asking Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, to reduce the price of petrol from his refinery is circulating on social media.
In the 28-second video, Biden urged Dangote to sell petrol to Nigerians at N150.
“Aliko Dangote you have to stop selling your fuel at high cost, you have a refinery you have to sell your fuel at 150 naira per litre,” Biden allegedly said.
“Nigerian leaders are so mean they don’t care about their own citizens what they care about is to steal money.
“Tinubu please try and arrange your country.”
The video was shared on TikTok on November 1, by an account linked to VeryDarkMan, the controversial activist.
The video has garnered over 1,313 likes, 87 comments, 510 bookmarks and 521 shares.
THE NNPCL AND DANGOTE REFINERY SUPPLY CONTROVERSY
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has been involved in conflict with major players in the oil and gas sector, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
In June, the Dangote Refinery accused NNPCL of attempting to sabotage the operation of the refinery.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery commenced petrol production on September 3.
On September 15, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited Company commenced the lifting of petrol from the refinery after prolonged negotiations on pricing mechanisms.
At the close of loading on the aforementioned date, the NNPC disclosed that it bought petrol from the refinery at N898 per litre — above the N855 the NNPC had sold the product across its retail outlets since September 3.
The development triggered a backlash as critics wondered how the price of the commodity secured locally could be higher than the imported product.
On November 1, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said petrol from the refinery is more expensive than buying from other sources.
As a result, oil marketers reportedly vowed to import the commodity and sell it below the Dangote refinery price as well as the price being sold by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
In response, Dangote Refinery said any oil marketer selling petrol at a price lower than the one it offered is importing substandard products.
The firm noted that the prices are benchmarked against the international prices and the amount the NNPC sold to local marketers
VERIFYING THE CLAIM
Analysis by TheCable using Deepware revealed that the video is 97 percent fake and has been altered using Deepfake, an artificial intelligence-generated technology that clones a person’s voice to sound like another.
A critical look at the video showed that Biden’s lip movement was not in sync with his voice, his eyes were blinking inconsistently, and his face appeared gloomy.
VERDICT
The claim that Biden appealed to Dangote to reduce petrol price to N150 is fake.
