The Movement for Anti-Corruption, Integrity, and Transparency Initiative has expressed strong disapproval of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent comments regarding state-owned refineries in Nigeria.
Obasanjo disclosed during an interview that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) turned down a $750 million proposal from billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote in 2007 to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries. He claimed that the NNPC was aware of its inability to operate the national refineries yet still rejected Dangote’s offer.
In a subsequent statement, Obasanjo criticized an open invitation extended by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to tour the revitalized Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries, calling it disrespectful. This invitation came after he accused the state-owned oil company of dismissing Dangote’s substantial management offer.
In response, the anti-corruption group, represented by its National President Comrade Goodway Jackson and Secretary General Comrade Mohammed Kuda, suggested that Obasanjo’s recent comments reflect a desire to see the state-owned refineries fail.
The statement read, “To many observers, former President Obasanjo’s latest criticism of the state refineries may not stem from genuine concern for their operational success, but rather from a longstanding grievance against the NNPCL that arose after he left office.”
It continued, “This vendetta appears to be rooted in the fact that after Obasanjo’s presidency, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua reversed the controversial sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery to a consortium.”
The group pointed out that even when major oil industry unions, including the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), strongly opposed the privatization of the refineries due to conflicts of interest and procedural flaws, Obasanjo was undeterred in his ambitions.
The statement concluded by advising those eager for the privatization of the refineries in a manner contrary to national interests to consider establishing their refineries, similar to the Dangote Group.
