President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has cast doubt on the functionality of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, saying they may never work again despite the government spending an estimated $18 billion on their rehabilitation.
Speaking during a visit by members of Global CEO Africa to the Dangote Refinery, Dangote explained that the 650,000 barrels-per-day facility was built after the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s administration rejected his bid to acquire the government-owned refineries.
He recalled that he and other investors had acquired the refineries in 2007 during President Obasanjo’s tenure, but were later forced to return them following a change in government.
“We bought the refineries in January 2007. At the time, they were producing only about 22% of PMS. But the new administration claimed they would fix them and canceled the sale. Today, after spending nearly $18 billion, those refineries are still not working and I doubt they ever will,” Dangote said.
He likened the repeated rehabilitation efforts to modernizing a 40-year-old car. “Even if you replace the engine, the body can’t handle it. Technology has changed,” he added.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who initially approved the sale, has previously made similar remarks. He said Dangote and other investors paid $750 million to acquire the facilities before the Yar’adua administration reversed the decision.
Obasanjo said he had warned Yar’adua that the refineries were beyond repair. “I told him NNPC can’t fix them, but he insisted. Now, even as scrap, they may not sell for $200 million,” he said.
He blamed the NNPC for knowingly mismanaging the facilities while benefiting from corruption. “In a civilised country, some people should be in jail for this,” Obasanjo added.
He also stated earlier this year that over $2 billion had been wasted on the refineries since the cancelled sale, with nothing to show for it.
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