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NNPC Refineries will Never Work Again – Obasanjo
As the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited continues its search for technical partners to operate the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has once again insisted that the facilities will never work.
Obasanjo spoke during a television interview aired on Saturday night by Sony Irabor Live, which was monitored by our correspondent.
He said, “One of the lessons that I learnt is that PPP (public-private partnership) works. Look, one project that has not been destroyed by the government in Nigeria is the NLNG (Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas), where the private sector has 51 per cent, and the Nigerian government has 49 per cent.
“See what we did with Nigerian railways. See what we did with the national shipping company. See what we are doing now, even with the NNPC. The NNPC has refineries, and I said to people that it will never work. And a man had the audacity to say, ‘Am I a chemical engineer?”
Obasanjo spoke about his failed efforts to woo Shell, a global energy firm, into running the refineries. “Look, when I was there, I called Shell. I said, ‘Look, please, I beg you, come and take 10 per cent equity and run the refinery for us.’ They said no. I said, ‘Okay, if you don’t want to take equity, don’t take equity. Come and run the refineries. They said no,” he stated.
The former president narrated how he invited a top official of Shell for a one-on-one conversation to know why his offers were turned down.
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“So, I called him, and I said, ‘Tell me, be honest with me. Why don’t you want to handle this?’ He said first, they want to let me know that they make most of their profits on the upstream, not the downstream.
He said they run their downstream without making a loss, but they don’t make a lot of profit from it. It’s more of a service than a major profit-making. So that’s number one.
“Number two: he said our refineries are too small. This was when I was an elected President. He said our refineries are too small. One is 60,000 barrels, and another is 100,000 barrels. He said refineries at that time were in the range of 250,000 barrels to 300,000 barrels. Number three: he said our refineries are not well-maintained. We call quacks and amateurs to come and maintain our refineries. The refineries are not in good order. He said, ‘Number four, there’s too much corruption around our refineries, and they don’t want to be part of that,” Obansanjo explained.
He recalled that he counted the country lucky then when the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, told him of the willingness to offer $750m to take 51 per cent of two of the facilities.
“Until one day, Aliko (Dangote) came and offered $750m to take two of the refineries; that will be 51 per cent. I said, ‘Wow, God, you are really a God of miracles.’ I told Aliko to bring the money quickly. They brought the money, and they paid,” he said.
However, the Balogun Owu explained further that his successor, the late Umar Yar’adua, reversed the deal after he left office, claiming he was under too much pressure from the NNPC.
He mentioned that only the current NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, has said the truth about the state of the refineries so far.
“When I left office, NNPC went to my successor and convinced him. So I got up. I went to Umar. I said, ‘Look, Umar, maybe you don’t know; this is why we did what we did.’ He said, ‘Well, NNPC came to me.’ I said, ‘But you know that NNPC cannot run this thing. He said he knew. I asked, ‘Then why did you give in? He said because of pressure. And I said, ‘Look, when you sell these refineries, you will not get 200 million (dollars) for them, because you will sell them as scrap.’
“Only the present NNPC head has told the country the truth. But in the meantime, I was told that they have spent about $16bn, which is only $4bn short of what Aliko used to build Africa’s largest refinery,” Obasanjo said.
In November 2025, the NNPC announced a fresh target of June 2026 to finalise the selection of technical partners for the refineries.
Ojulari said that despite the rehabilitation and reopening of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries in 2024 before they were later reclosed, the facilities were operating “well below international standards”, making their products commercially uncompetitive, especially compared to the privately owned Dangote refinery.
Dangote said he built his refinery after the Yar’Adua administration reversed the sale of the NNPC refineries to him and his other associates. He is also of the opinion that the NNPC refineries may never work again.
The NNPC communications office has yet to respond to messages seeking reactions to the former president’s claims.
- The Punch
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to court over the oil major’s failure to account for approximately ₦5.9 billion expended its incorporation, transition and rebranding from the NNPC into NNPC Ltd.
According to the SERAP, the NNPC Ltd paid over ₦2.9 billion for incorporation expenses from petroleum product proceeds, while the National Petroleum Investment Management Services also charged a similar amount against the crude oil revenue for the same purpose, bringing the total to ₦5.9 billion.
Consequently, the organisation is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel the NNPCL to account for about ₦5.9 billion allegedly spent on the rebranding of the NNPC to the NNPCL.”
It is also asking the court to “direct and compel the NNPCL to provide a comprehensive reconciliation statement detailing the specific financial transactions relating to the ₦5.9 billion expenditure, including the identities of the contractors involved, and how the funds were utilised for the rebranding of NNPC to NNPCL.”
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The SERAP further asked the court to “direct and compel the NNPCL to disclose the names and official positions of the government officials who authorized and approved the release and expenditure of the ₦5.9 billion reportedly spent on the rebranding of NNPC to NNPCL, and to clarify whether the expenditure complied with applicable procurement laws and due-process requirements.”
The order of mandamus is contained in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1248/2026 filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, according to a statement issued on Sunday by the NGO’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
Filed on behalf of the SERAP by its lawyers, Oluwakemi Agunbiade, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo, the suit also noted that the Senate Committee on Public Accounts reportedly raised concerns over the expenditure described as incorporation and transition costs during the transformation process.
“The Committee described the spending of the ₦5.9 billion as excessive, unjustifiable, and deserving of further explanation, investigation, and legislative scrutiny in the public interest,” the SERAP noted.
The SERAP argued that there is a legitimate public interest in the disclosure of the details sought.
“The NNPCL has a legal responsibility to explain whether the ₦5.9 billion expenditure represents value for money, constitutes lawful spending of public funds, and complies with applicable due process requirements.
“There ought to be full transparency and accountability regarding the reported ₦5.9 billion spent on rebranding NNPC to NNPCL. Nigerians have the right to know who approved the expenditure, who received the funds, the nature of the services rendered, and whether due process and procurement requirements were strictly followed,
“The disclosure of the identities of the officials involved and the processes followed in approving the expenditure would enable the public to assess whether the expenditure was properly authorized, represented value for money, and was undertaken in accordance with due process and procurement requirements,” it said.
It added that, given the size of the expenditure, there is “an urgent need for a prompt, thorough, and transparent disclosure of the details surrounding the spending of the funds.”
It further stated that “the failure to account for the spending of the ₦5.9 billion on rebranding from NNPC to NNPCL reflects a failure of NNPCL accountability more generally and is directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold transparency and accountability principles.”
The SERAP added that the transformation of the national oil company from the NNPC to the NNPC Ltd followed the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which required it to become a commercially oriented limited liability company fully owned by the federal government.
It also cited constitutional and international provisions, including Section 13 and Section 15(5) of the Constitution, as well as Articles 5 and 9 of the UN Convention against Corruption and Article 21 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to support its arguments.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
The attention of the Osun State Government has been drawn to a statement by the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Ishaq Akintola, accusing Governor Ademola Adeleke of marginalising Muslims in his administration.
The State Government in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi charged Professor Akintola to be guided by the Quran and Hadith of Prophet Muhammad in his engagement with the Osun State Government.
“We believe Professor Akintola acted on misinformation or he is actively an agent of misinformation. Governor Adeleke is a strong believer who relates well with people of all faiths, in line with the inclusive leadership example of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). His administration has appointed qualified Muslims to key positions.
For the record, Governor Adeleke appointed Alhaji Teslim Igbalaye as Secretary to the State Government and Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye, a student of Sheikh Kamaludeen Al-Adabiyy in Ilorin, as Chief of Staff. His Spokesperson is a known Mallam of Tijaniya extraction. The Commissioner for Information is alone a deep muslim of Al-Adabiyy extraction. Several other Muslims are also serving as commissioners and heads of agencies, alongside qualified appointees of other faiths.
This administration commenced construction of the Osun Hajj Camp, ending Osun’s status as the only Southwest state without one. The governor also approved a mosque in the Government House for Muslim staff.
We urge Professor Akintola to verify facts before going public, as admonished in Qur’an 49:6.
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He should also assess government performance using verifiable data on budget execution, debt management by the DMO, and healthcare, where Osun was rated best in the Southwest for primary healthcare in 2024 and 2025.
Elections should be about jobs, security, infrastructure, healthcare, and education, not identity politics.
“We expect MURIC to judge this administration by its record of service to all citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim alike”.
Rather than feign his political attack with religious coloration, Professor Akintola should be courageous to declare his partisan interest in the opposition APC and stop using religion to do hatchet job politics.
We challenge MURIC to openly condemn the shooting of law-abiding residents (Muslims and non Muslims) of the state by APC thugs in branded APC campaign vehicles in Ile-Ife, Akoda, Owode-Ede and Osogbo, to disprove the allegation that he’s been paid by the opposition to attack Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Rather than spreading baseless misinformation, we are also of the opinion that MURIC should be more interested in cases like the sudden addition of ‘Munirudeen’ to the names of the Osun APC Governorship candidate, a name which was missing from his primary, secondary and university certificates.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has explained the reason behind the suspension of the 2026 Batch B Stream I Orientation Course for prospective corps members deployed to Niger State.
In a notice shared on its official X account on Sunday, the scheme said the orientation exercise was put on hold due to ongoing renovation work at the state’s orientation camp.
According to the NYSC, the temporary suspension affects all prospective corps members (PCMs) posted to Niger State for the current orientation programme.
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“This is to notify the General Public and Prospective Corps Members (PCMs) deployed to Niger State for the 2026 Batch B Stream I Orientation Course that their Orientation Course Exercise is suspended for now due to ongoing renovation work at the Orientation Camp,” the statement read.
The scheme assured affected corps members that alternative arrangements would be communicated soon, noting that they would be informed of a new reporting date and venue once preparations are completed.
“PCMs affected should note that they will be contacted at a short notice on where and when to report for their Orientation Course,” the NYSC added.
The management also apologised for the inconvenience caused to both the prospective corps members and their parents.
“The Management regrets all inconveniences to the affected PCMs and their parents,” the statement said.
The suspension comes months after a devastating windstorm damaged critical facilities at the NYSC orientation camp in Paiko, located in Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State.
The storm reportedly affected several structures, including male hostels, the multipurpose hall, kitchen and staff quarters.
Following the incident, the Niger State Government commenced rehabilitation and renovation works aimed at restoring the camp’s infrastructure to a suitable condition for hosting corps members.
While the 2026 Batch B Stream I Orientation Course began nationwide on June 10 and is expected to conclude on June 30, corps members posted to Niger State will now have to await further directives from the NYSC regarding their orientation exercise.
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