Obasanjo Says NNPC Refineries “Will Never Work Again”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reiterated his long-held stance that Nigeria’s state-owned refineries will never function effectively, even as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited continues efforts to secure technical partners for the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna facilities.

Speaking during a televised interview, Obasanjo emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships, pointing to the success of NLNG as a model. He stated, “One of the lessons that I learnt is that PPP (public-private partnership) works. Look, one project that has not been destroyed by the government in Nigeria is the NLNG (Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas), where the private sector has 51 per cent, and the Nigerian government has 49 per cent.”

He maintained that government-run refineries are unlikely to succeed, recalling his attempts to involve Shell in managing the facilities, which the company declined. “The NNPC has refineries, and I said to people that it will never work. And a man had the audacity to say, ‘Am I a chemical engineer?” he said.

Obasanjo explained that Shell cited limited profitability in downstream operations, small refinery capacity, poor maintenance, and corruption concerns as reasons for declining the offer.

The former president also recounted how businessman Aliko Dangote once offered $750 million for a majority stake in two refineries, a deal that was later reversed by his successor, the late Umar Yar’Adua, due to pressure from NNPC officials. “Until one day, Aliko (Dangote) came and offered $750m to take two of the refineries; that will be 51 per cent.

I said, ‘Wow, God, you are really a God of miracles,’” Obasanjo noted. He added that the reversal was a missed opportunity, warning that the refineries could eventually be sold as scrap.

He further criticised the significant funds spent on rehabilitation, claiming billions of dollars had yielded little progress. According to him, “Only the present NNPC head has told the country the truth. But in the meantime, I was told that they have spent about $16bn…”

Despite recent rehabilitation efforts, NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, has acknowledged that the refineries remain below global standards and struggle to compete with privately owned facilities like the Dangote refinery.