Public confusion has surrounded recent claims by the Ogun and Ondo State governments concerning major industrial projects along the Olokola coastline.
Some reports have mistakenly suggested that Aliko Dangote is building a new refinery in Ondo State. However, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery remains located in the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, with a reported production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
The confusion appears to have arisen from the merging of two separate coastal development projects: the Dangote-led Olokola industrial hub and a proposed refinery project linked to investors in Ondo State.
The Olokola project is located within the Olokola Free Trade Zone, which straddles Ogun and Ondo states. It is focused primarily on port infrastructure, industrial development and related energy projects.
Available reports indicate that Dangote Group holds an 80 per cent stake in the Olokola Free Trade Zone Company, while the Ogun and Ondo State governments each hold a 10 per cent interest.
This structure means that neither Ogun nor Ondo can claim exclusive ownership of the Dangote-led project. The development is located in a cross-border zone involving both states.
The proposed project has been associated with plans for a deep-sea port and other large-scale industrial facilities. However, claims that it includes a completed gas-fired power plant, fertiliser and cement terminals have not been fully verified in the available reports.
The development has also become linked to Ogun State’s separate agreement with DP World concerning the proposed Gateway Deep Seaport and Blue Marine Special Economic Zone.
The DP World project is reportedly valued at more than $7 billion and is expected to cover a large economic zone with port infrastructure. However, the agreements remain at the memorandum of understanding stage, meaning that financing, implementation and the final ownership structure are yet to be fully settled.
The relationship between the DP World proposal and the existing Dangote-led Olokola project remains unclear. It has not been established whether the two developments are entirely separate, complementary or potentially overlapping.
Claims concerning a $50 billion Ondo refinery project involving Backbone Infrastructure Nigeria Limited and Canada-based NEFEX Holdings Limited could not be independently verified from the available reports.
Similarly, there is insufficient evidence to confirm that a 500,000-barrels-per-day “Sunshine Refinery” is currently being developed in Ondo State under that arrangement.
What is clear is that the Dangote Refinery was originally considered for the Olokola area before the project was moved to the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos.
The refinery is now operating from Lagos and should not be confused with the proposed industrial projects around the Ogun–Ondo coastal corridor.
Therefore, there is currently no verified evidence that Dangote is building another refinery in Ondo State. The Dangote-linked development at Olokola is primarily an industrial and port project involving both Ogun and Ondo states, while the proposed Ondo refinery remains a separate project whose ownership, financing and development details require further clarification.
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