Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reiterated his position that Nigeria’s state-owned refineries under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited will not function effectively again, citing structural, technical, and governance challenges.
Obasanjo made the remarks during a television interview aired on Saturday on Sony Irabor Live, where he reflected on past efforts to reform the country’s refining sector.
According to him, one of the key lessons from his time in office is that public-private partnerships (PPP) offer a more viable model for managing critical national assets.
He pointed to the success of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, where private investors hold majority equity, as an example of a functioning model insulated from government inefficiencies.
“The NNPC has refineries, and I said to people that it will never work,” Obasanjo stated, noting that repeated attempts to revive the facilities had failed over the years.
He disclosed that during his administration, he approached Shell plc to take over or manage the refineries, but the company declined.
Obasanjo said Shell cited several reasons for its refusal, including limited profitability in the downstream sector, the relatively small capacity of Nigeria’s refineries compared to global standards, poor maintenance culture, and concerns over corruption.
“Our refineries are too small and not well maintained. There is also too much corruption around them, and they did not want to be part of that,” he said.
The former president also recalled that industrialist Aliko Dangote had offered $750 million to acquire a 51 per cent stake in two of the refineries during his tenure, a proposal he described as a “miracle.”
However, he said the deal was later reversed by his successor, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, following pressure from officials within the national oil company.
Obasanjo added that substantial funds—estimated at about $16 billion—have been spent on the refineries over time without commensurate results, noting that the figure is close to the cost of building a new large-scale refinery.
He said only the current leadership of the NNPC has been candid about the true state of the facilities, amid ongoing efforts to secure technical partners for the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries.
The former president maintained that without fundamental reforms, including greater private sector participation, the refineries are unlikely to operate efficiently.
