Atiku Urges Immediate Listing Of NNPC On Stock Exchange, Says Refineries’ Privatisation ‘Cosmetic’

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, on Sunday demanded the immediate listing of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) on the stock exchange in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Atiku said this in reaction to the decision of the NNPC to hand over the Warri and Kaduna refineries to private operators who are expected to manage and operate them.

In a statement by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku said: “The NNPC is supposed to have been listed on the stock exchange in line with the PIA. This would make the company more profitable and enhance transparency and corporate governance.

“Currently, the NNPC claims to be private, but this is only a ruse to fool the feeble-minded because it remains the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of the federal government. Anything short of listing the NNPC on the stock exchange is nothing but a cosmetic development.”

Atiku further stated that the NNPC continues to provide a cover of political protection to the Tinubu government’s policy inconsistency on the payment of subsidy, raising questions about the independence that the PIA requires of the NNPC as a private business concern.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023, said previous arrangements and concessions had not worked because of a lack of transparency in the contract award process as well as the failure of the government to attract investors.

The former vice president said that for such a deal to succeed at all, the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and a credible technical partner like Standard and Poor’s (S&P) must be part of the process.

Atiku added: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo revealed recently that even Shell, one of the world’s wealthiest oil companies, rejected the offer to operate Nigeria’s refineries. This is because the NNPC has, for years, been a cesspool of endemic corruption.

“This is why over $20 billion that has been spent on the refineries in the last 20 years has led to nowhere. It is also curious that a government that is still paying petrol subsidy is trying to make its refineries profitable. Which businessman will invest in a refinery that has been programmed to operate at a loss?”

Atiku questioned the feasibility of the NNPC’s latest plan even as he pointed out that such arrangements in the past had not been profitable.

He added: “The manage and operate approach has not always worked. The Manitoba Hydro International, which was handed the Transmission Company (TCN) of Nigeria, led to nowhere. Similarly, Global Steel Limited, which was handed the Ajaokuta Steel Company, was not able to make the facility profitable.

“The contract was questionably revoked by the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration, and Nigeria ended up paying Global Steel a compensation of nearly $500 million while Ajaokuta remains comatose 17 years later.”

Waziri Adamawa advised the NNPC not to make the contract process opaque like it did with OVH last year, which was not only dubious but has still failed to boost the NNPC’s petrol sufficiency as evidenced by the months long fuel scarcity.

“In 2022, Nueoil, an unknown and newly registered company, acquired OVH and Oando filling stations. Barely four months later, NNPC Retail bought Nueoil and took control of all its assets, including the Oando filling stations.

“Barely eight months later, OVH turned around to take over NNPC Retail. This convoluted transaction was done in order to hide the corruption involved. If this is the approach that the NNPC wants to use in handing over its refineries to private hands, then Nigerians should not expect any positive development whatsoever,” Atiku stressed.

Emmanuel Addeh, Chuks Okocha and Peter Uzoho

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