Dangote blames policy reversal for NNPC refineries’ wastage, indicts Yar’adua govt
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group, has revealed that the government of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua was responsible for all the money Nigeria has been losing on Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)-run refineries since 2007.
He expressed doubts over the possibility of the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries functioning again.
He lamented that all the refineries under the control of the NNPCL have not been functional despite the $18bn spent on turn around maintenance.
He spoke on Thursday while hosting members of the Global CEO Africa from the Lagos Business School, after a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos.
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He pointed out that the Obasanjo government sold the refineries to him, and that as he was about to commence operations on them, the Yara’dua government, which succeeded Obasanjo’s, cancelled the sales.
“The refineries that we bought before, which were owned by Nigeria, were doing about 22 per cent of PMS. We bought the refineries in January 2007. Then we had to return them to the government because there was a change of government.
“And the managing director at that time convinced Yar’adua that the refineries would work. They said they just gave them to us as a parting gift or so. And as of today, they have spent about $18bn on those refineries, and they are still not working. And I don’t think, and I doubt very much if they will work,” he said.
Dangote emphasised that the turnaround maintenance of the refineries was like trying to modernise a car built 40 years ago, when technology has advanced.
“(The turnaround maintenance) is like you trying to modernise a car that was built 40 years ago, when technology and everything have changed. Even if you change the engine, the body will not be able to take the shock of that new technology engine,” he stated.
