Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that subsequent administrations squandered over $2 billion on Nigeria’s refineries, yet none of them became operational.
In an interview with Channels Television, Obasanjo revealed that during his tenure, he sought to make the refineries functional by involving Shell, but the company declined.
According to him, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), a pioneer in the country’s petroleum industry, outlined four reasons why the refineries could not be made operational, with corruption being a significant factor.
This revelation comes shortly after President Bola Tinubu’s administration announced that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have resumed operations.
He said, “I said, when I was president, I wanted to do something about the three refineries we have. Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna. After I asked Shell to come and run it for us, Shell said they wouldn’t. I said, please, come and take equity. They said, no, all right, don’t take equity, come and run it. They said, no.
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“Later on, I called them. I called the boss of Shell then. Come and tell me what is it. And he gave me four or five reasons. He said, well, first of all, we make a major profit from upstream, not from downstream. Downstream, we run just to keep our heads above water.
“Two, our refineries are too small. 60,000 barrels, 100,000 barrels, and I think 120,000 barrels. He said, at that time, the average refinery was going for 250,000 barrels. Three, he said, our refineries are not well maintained. Four, he said, there was too much corruption around the activities of our refinery, and they would not want to get involved in that.”
The Ogun-born politician further recounted that in 2007, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) rejected a $750 million offer from billionaire business tycoon Aliko Dangote to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.
“And when anybody tells you a thing like that, what will you do? And it was after that, Aliko Dangote got a team together, and they paid $750 million to take part in PPP, running the refinery. My successor refunded their money, and I went to my successor. I said, do you know? I told him what I transferred. He said NNPC said they wanted the refinery, and they could run it”, Obasanjo added.
He stated that the NNPC, now rebranded as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), was aware of its inability to manage the national refineries but still refused Dangote’s offer.
The former President noted, “And I said, but you know they cannot run it. As I was told not too long ago, since that time, more than $2 billion have been squandered on the refineries, and they still will not work. Anybody can tell you.
“If a company like Shell tells me what they told me, I will believe them. If anybody tells you now that it is working, well, are they now with Aliko? And Aliko will make its refinery work. Not only will it make it work, it will make it deliver.
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“Announce whether our government refinery is working or not. Look, it is like they say in Yoruba, the man who plants 100 heaps of yam, and says he has planted 200 heaps, they say after he has harvested 100 heaps of yam, he will also harvest 100 heaps of lie. You know what that means?”
Obasanjo served as Nigeria’s democratically elected President from May 1999 to May 2007.
He also held the position of Nigeria’s military Head of State from February 1976 to October 1979.
