Obasanjo reveals Dangote offered $750 million to manage NNPC’s moribund refineries

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed how billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote offered $750 million to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries in 2007 but was ignored.
Obasanjo revealed this during an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, January 2.
He said the refineries managed by the then Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is now operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
According to Obasanjo, the old NNPC was aware of its limitations in managing the nation’s refineries but rejected Dangote’s offer.
He said, “When I was president, I wanted to do something about the three refineries we have: Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna. Aliko got a team together after I asked Shell to come and run it for us. And Shell said they wouldn’t.
“Aliko got a team together and they paid $750m to take part in PPP (public–private partnership) in running the refineries. My successor refunded their money and I went to my successor and told him what transpired. He said NNPC said they wanted the refineries and they could run it. I now said but you know they cannot run it.”
However, Obasanjo said his successor, late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, reversed the decision and refunded Dangote’s investment.
He recalled asking Shell to come and run the refineries or take equity in it but the company said it would not.
“Later on, I called the boss of Shell to come and tell me what the problem was, and he gave me four or five reasons.
“He said, first of all, they make a major profit from upstream, not from downstream. He said they run downstream just to keep their head above water.
“Two, our refineries were too small: 60,000 barrels, 100,000 barrels and I think 120,000 barrels..Three, he said our refineries were not well maintained. Four, he said that there was too much corruption around the activities of our refinery and they would not want to get involved in that,” he added.
The former president said he had confidence in Dangote’s ability to effectively manage his privately owned refinery, contrasting it with the government’s inefficiency.
“I was told not too long ago that since that time, more than $2 billion have been squandered on the refinery and they still will not work.
“If a company like Shell tells me what they told me, I will believe them. If anybody tells you now that it is working, why are they now with Aliko? And Aliko will make his refinery work; not only make it work, he will make it deliver,” Obasanjo maintained.

In December, 30, the NNPCL announced that the 125,000-barrel-per-day Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company in Delta State had resumed operations.
The development followed the restart of operations at the 60,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt Refinery a month earlier. However, some people cannot still all is well with the refineries despite what NNPCL is claiming.