Dangote once offered $750m to manage Nigeria’s refineries — Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) once rejected Aliko Dangote’s $750m offer to manage and end Nigerian refineries’ woes through a public-private partnership.
Recounting failed efforts to privatise the country’s refineries and the subsequent financial losses under government management on ChannelsTV, Obasanjo revealed that his successor had refunded Dongote’s money after NNPC officials assured him that the refineries could only be managed by them.

”Aliko got a team together and they paid $750m to take part in PPP (Public–Private Partnership) in running the refineries. My successor refunded their money and I went to my successor, I told him what transpired, he said NNPC said they wanted the refinery and they could run it and I said but you know they cannot run it,” he said
Obasanjo explained how he sought external help to rehabilitate and manage the facilities but faced resistance.

He recalled, “I asked Shell to come and run it for us and Shell said they wouldn’t. I said, Please come and take equity they said no. I said okay, don’t take equity, come and run it, they said no.
“Later on, I called them. I called the boss of Shell to come and tell me what the problem was and he gave me four or five reasons. He said, first of all, they make a major profit from upstream, not from downstream. He said they run downstream just to keep their head above water.

“Two, our refineries were too small: 60,000 barrels, 100,000 barrels and I think 120,000 barrels. He said that at that time, the average refinery was going for 250,000 barrels.
“Three, he said our refineries were not well maintained. Four, he said that there was too much corruption around the activities of our refinery and they would not want to get involved in that.”

The former president expressed confidence in Dangote’s ability to effectively manage his privately owned refinery, contrasting it with the government’s inefficiency.

“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.
“If a company like Shell tells me what they told me, I will believe them. If anybody tells you now that it is working, why are they now with Aliko? And Aliko will make his refinery work; not only make it work, he will make it deliver.” he said