Africa's richest person, Aliko Dangote, Tuesday released official samples of petrol from his refinery, assuring Nigerians that the local sale of the fuel will help correct distortions in the value of the local currency compared with the dollar.

Describing the development as historic, Dangote said the refinery located in Lagos will assist in knowing the true consumption of petrol in Nigeria since every loaded truck can be tracked.

Dangote, who spoke on Arise Television, lauded President Bola Tinubu for all the support to ensure the dream became a reality.

He said: "This will bring stability to the naira, bring growth, development and prosperity.

"I would like to salute the people of Nigeria and the government of President Bola Tinubu for giving us the platform for growth, development and prosperity.

"I also want to thank him personally for creating the idea of the naira for crude. Doing that will give naira stability.

"As we have this refinery working, it will show the true consumption of Nigeria; we can track every loaded truck and ship."

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has said the refinery will release an initial 25 million litres into the market this month

In a message on its X handle, the organisation added that refining will be further ramped up in October to 30 million litres.