Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) acknowledgement that the $1.5bn rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery delivered no value supports his long-standing argument for privatising Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
Atiku made the remark in a statement posted on his X account on Sunday, reacting to recent comments credited to the state oil firm that the refinery remains unprofitable despite heavy public investment.
Earlier in the week, NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, revealed that the country’s refineries were operating at what he described as a “monumental loss,” a situation that forced management to suspend operations to prevent further depletion of value.
Ojulari explained that public expectations were high following the huge expenditure on the facilities, but financial realities told a different story.
He said, “On the refineries, Nigerians were angry. A lot of money has been spent, and expectations were very high. So we were under extreme pressure, extreme pressure.”
According to him, a deeper assessment showed the refineries were draining national resources rather than adding value.
“The first thing that became clear, and I want to say this very clearly, is that we were running at a monumental loss to Nigeria. We were just wasting money. I can say that confidently now,” Ojulari said.
He added, “We were spending a lot of money on operations, a lot of money on contractors. But when you look at the net, we were just leaking away value.”
Reacting to the disclosure, Atiku described the admission as overdue but significant, insisting it confirms that continued government spending on non-performing refineries cannot be justified.
He said, “After gulping $1.5bn, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has now admitted that reopening the Port Harcourt Refinery is a waste of scarce resources. This belated admission validates my long-held position that Nigeria’s refineries should be privatised.”
The former vice president also faulted the Tinubu administration for persisting with what he called an unsustainable approach.
“It is instructive that the Tinubu administration has finally come to terms with an inevitable truth: pouring public funds into moribund refineries is economically indefensible,” he added.
Atiku further criticised the payment of salaries running into billions of naira to facilities that produce no petrol, arguing that such expenditure does not advance the country’s economic interest.
He recalled that his advocacy for privatisation in the past was met with resistance and personal attacks.
“For years, I advanced this patriotic position and was vilified and accused of plotting to sell public assets to ‘friends.’ Today, the facts have caught up with the rhetoric,” he said.
According to Atiku, repeated turnaround maintenance over several decades has swallowed billions of dollars without delivering results, exposing deep-rooted issues in technical capacity, management efficiency and financial discipline.
He also argued that the latest attempt to revive the refineries was driven more by political considerations than sound economics, warning that politics should not override policy.
Atiku maintained that any new arrangements to resuscitate the refineries, including partnerships with foreign entities, should be abandoned as they mirror strategies that have already failed.
“Nigeria would have been better served by selling the refineries pre-rehabilitation to avoid ballooning debt and the steady depreciation of what have effectively become liabilities,” he added.
