NNPC Refineries Will Never Work Again, Says Obasanjo, Gives Reason
- Olusegun Obasanjo has declared that government-owned refineries in Nigeria will never be functional again
- The former president recalled Shell's alleged refusal to manage Nigerian refineries 'due to corruption issues and size'
- Obasanjo commented on the success of public-private partnerships like the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas project
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Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics, elections, public affairs and governance in Nigeria and Africa.
FCT, Abuja - Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said government-owned refineries will never work again.
As reported by The Punch, Obasanjo spoke during a television interview aired live on Saturday night, April 25, on News Central.
Source: Twitter
Daily Trust also noted Obasanjo's stance.
He reiterated his position about the refineries.
His words:
“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?”
Source: Getty Images
Obasanjo shares why Shell rejected refineries
Furthermore, Obasanjo opened up on how he tried to convince Shell to run the refineries, but could not succeed.
The 89-year-old also revealed the outcome of a meeting he had with a Shell official after the deal did not work out as planned.
He said:
“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.
“So, I called a top Shell official, 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."
Obj, as Obasanjo is fondly called, added:
“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."
Nigerians react to Obasanjo's stance
Meanwhile, Nigerians on X (formerly Twitter) expressed mixed reactions to Obasanjo's assertion on NNPC refineries.
Legit.ng captured some comments below:
@Parvenudprince wrote on X:
"We know our problems, just that we can't fix them. Because first our thoughts aren't in unison but divers. The seeds of pollution had been planted in my mind and they are blind to have sorted the bad from good. Our problem has many facets, I mean legs, from within to without. .. Even the oyibos follow contribute via our elites week angle, which is financial gluttonous lust."
@Idara47 said on X:
"We know that all those money they were budgeting for that refinery was for them to share it within themselves, had was to work it was going to work by now we would be seeing it."
@getKennethed22 said via X:
"People who are part of the problem are telling you people the truth and you're here arguing with them. They were the ones who damaged NNPC."
@urchin_spine wrote on X:
"Oga Obasanjo why did you not fix it during your time as president? What tangible did Obasanjo do, nothing!! Power you did not fix, all 4 refineries you couldn't fix one, just one!!! Not that i absolve the current administration of any wrong doings. But Obasanjo is no different."
Legit.ng reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is actively reviving Nigeria's state-owned refineries to boost domestic production, with the Port Harcourt refinery restarting in late 2024 and rehabilitation efforts ongoing at Warri and Kaduna refineries.
Backed by around a billion in funding as of mid-2025, these efforts aim for energy sufficiency.
Read more on Nigerian refineries:
- Dangote to employ more staff after refinery 1.4mbpd expansion
- Top 3 performing refineries in Nigeria after Dangote refinery
- FG makes bold move to sell Nigeria’s four refineries after years of inactivity
Rising oil prices threaten Nigerian refineries
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that energy expert and National Publicity Secretary of the Crude Oil Refineries Association of Nigeria (CORAN), Eche Idoko, explained that the reliance of local refineries in Nigeria on foreign crude supplies is responsible for the recent hike in petrol prices.
Idoko stated that Nigeria’s local refineries that depend on imported crude oil are facing mounting cost pressures as global prices rise amid tensions in the Middle East due to the war between Iran and US-backed Israel.
The expert stressed that domestic refineries are vulnerable to international market volatility, an abnormal situation for an oil-producing country.
Source: Legit.ng
