Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has shed new light on Nigeria’s ongoing refinery challenges, recounting past attempts to privatize the country’s refineries and the financial setbacks faced under government management.
In an exclusive interview with Channels TV on Thursday, Obasanjo revisited the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries during his presidency, revealing his efforts to seek external assistance for their rehabilitation and management, only to face significant resistance.
Obasanjo recounted his discussions with Shell, where he asked the oil giant to manage the refineries, but they declined multiple offers, citing concerns over profitability, refinery size, maintenance issues, and corruption surrounding the operations. According to Obasanjo, Shell’s reluctance stemmed from their primary focus on upstream activities rather than downstream, the inadequate scale of the Nigerian refineries compared to industry standards, poor maintenance, and corruption in the sector.
He further disclosed that after Shell’s refusal, billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote assembled a team and paid $750 million to engage in a public-private partnership (PPP) to manage the refineries. However, Obasanjo claimed that his successor refunded Dangote’s investment, despite his warnings that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would not be capable of effectively running the refineries.
Obasanjo expressed confidence in Dangote’s ability to run his privately owned refinery successfully, contrasting it with the government’s repeated failures. He lamented the over $2 billion reportedly wasted on the refineries without any significant progress.
The former president dismissed claims that the refineries were operational, citing his conversation with Shell executives and Dangote’s investment in contrast to the government’s inefficiency. He concluded with a Yoruba proverb, likening the false claims about the refineries’ success to misleading boasts about planting more yam heaps than one actually did.
