Kehinde Fajobi
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) turned down a $750 million proposal from billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Channels TV, Obasanjo explained that in 2007, Dangote and his team offered the amount as part of a public-private partnership to operate the refineries.
“Aliko got a team together and they paid $750m to take part in PPP (Public–public-private partnership) in running the refineries,” Obasanjo said.
He further disclosed that his successor in office later refunded the money, citing assurances from the NNPC that it could handle the refineries independently.
“I went to my successor and told him what transpired. He said NNPC said they wanted the refineries and they can run it. I now said but you know they cannot run it,” Obasanjo recalled.
The former president lamented that despite this decision, substantial resources have been wasted without achieving functional refineries.
“I was told not too long ago that since that time, more than $2 billion have been squandered on the refinery, and they still will not work,” he added.