Dangote said the Warri, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt refineries under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) may never function again

By Titilope Adako

President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has cast serious doubt on the functionality of Nigeria’s government-owned refineries, despite the staggering $18 billion already spent on them.

Speaking on Thursday while hosting members of the Global CEO Africa group from Lagos Business School at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, Dangote said the Warri, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt refineries under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) may never function again.

He recalled how his attempt to acquire the refineries was aborted after President Olusegun Obasanjo left office in 2007. According to him, the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua, influenced by refinery officials, reversed the sale on the grounds that the facilities were sold below value.

“We bought the refineries in January 2007. Then we had to return them to the government because there was a change of government,” Dangote said.

“The managing director at that time convinced Yar’Adua that the refineries would work. They said they just gave them to us as a parting gift or so. And as of today, they have spent about $18 billion on those refineries, and they are still not working. And I doubt very much if they will ever work.”

He added that his own 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity refinery currently allocates over 50 per cent of its production to Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), unlike the government refineries which only committed about 22 per cent.

Dangote likened the turnaround maintenance efforts at NNPC refineries to attempting to modernise a 40-year-old vehicle.

“It’s like trying to modernise a car that was built 40 years ago, when technology and everything have changed. Even if you change the engine, the body will not be able to take the shock of that new technology engine,” he said.

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