News Editor
By our Correspondent
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) rejected a $750 million offer from billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries in 2007.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with Channels Television, Obasanjo explained how efforts to address the inefficiency of Nigeria’s refineries were thwarted by internal resistance.
When I was president, I sought a solution for our three refineries: Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna.
I approached Shell, but they declined to manage them. Aliko Dangote assembled a team willing to invest $750 million in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to run the refineries, but the NNPC refused and insisted they could manage them,” Obasanjo said.
The former president disclosed that his successor Shehu Musa Ya’Adua reversed the decision and refunded Dangote’s investment, despite NNPC’s historical inability to manage the facilities effectively
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Obasanjo expressed frustration over the situation, lamenting that more than $2 billion has been spent on the refineries since 2007 without achieving functionality.
“If a company like Shell advises me, I’ll trust them. But here we are, over $2 billion squandered, and the refineries remain non-operational,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) recently announced that the Warri Refining & Petrochemical Company (WRPC), with a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day, has resumed partial operations.
President Bola Tinubu hailed the reopening as a significant achievement, describing it as a testament to progress in Nigeria’s energy sector.
“Many doubted this would happen, but it is real. This achievement is a source of pride for our nation,” Tinubu stated in December 2024.
