Atiku queries NNPC’s move to privatise refinery maintenance, operations

Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has demanded an explanation from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over its planned privatisation of the operation and maintenance of rehabilitated refineries.

In a message posted on his verifed X handle on Tuesday, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election recounted how he had been an advocate of privatization of the nation’s refineries, noting that his counsel fell on deaf ears.

He said that he had proposed reforms to the Buhari administration to reposition the oil sector but was ignored.

Atiku maintained that rather than privatize operation and maintenance, it was better for the NNPCL to sell off the refineries.

He posted: “I have always advocated for far-reaching reforms to reposition Nigeria’s oil sector and, indeed, other sectors of our economy.

“In particular, I had consistently called on the Buhari administration to break its monopoly in all infrastructure sectors, including the refineries, and give investors, both foreign and domestic, a larger role in funding and management.

“My position has been well laid out in The Atiku Plan (2018) and My Covenant With Nigerians (2022). But our suggestions fell on deaf ears. First, they refused to privatize the refineries. They left them idle for years while paying humongous staff salaries.

“Then, they contracted a loan of US$1.5 billion for rehabilitation.

“Now, the current administration wants to turn the rehabilitated refinery to private concerns for operation and maintenance!

“Without prejudice to the terms of the agreement between the NNPC and the private operators, it would undoubtedly have been better if the NNPC had sold the refinery, pre-rehabilitation, to avoid the burden of debt.

“The @nnpclimited must explain to the satisfaction of Nigerians what benefits its newly discovered approach to privatisation will confer on Nigeria and Nigerians.”

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