Atiku Abubakar, former Nigerian vice-president, ignited a fresh debate on state-owned refineries this week by questioning the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC) decision to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt refinery before considering privatization.
In a Tuesday post on X, Atiku reiterated his longstanding support for privatizing the refinery, raising concerns about the logic behind NNPC’s strategy.
“I have always advocated for far-reaching reforms to reposition Nigeria’s oil sector and, indeed, other sectors of our economy,” Atiku posted.
“In particular, I had consistently called on the Buhari administration to break its monopoly in all infrastructure sectors, including the refineries, and give investors, both foreign and domestic, a larger role in funding and management.
“My position has been well laid out in The Atiku Plan (2018) and My Covenant With Nigerians (2022). But our suggestions fell on deaf ears. First, they refused to privatize the refineries. They left them idle for years while paying humongous staff salaries.
“Then, they contracted a loan of US$1.5 billion for rehabilitation.
“Now, the current administration wants to turn the rehabilitated refinery to private concerns for operation and maintenance!
“Without prejudice to the terms of the agreement between the NNPC and the private operators, it would undoubtedly have been better if the NNPC had sold the refinery, pre-rehabilitation, to avoid the burden of debt.”
The politician asked NNPC to explain to Nigerians “what benefits its newly discovered approach to privatisation will confer on Nigeria and Nigerians”.
The former vice president’s comments come amidst ongoing controversy surrounding the Port Harcourt refinery, one of Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries. The NNPC embarked on a $1.5 billion rehabilitation project in 2021, aiming to revive the refinery’s dormant operations.
