He communicated this information through his official Facebook page on Tuesday.
By Johnson Atoukudu
Former Nigerian Vice President and 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, slams the Tinubu administration’s late attempt to privatise rehabilitated refineries after years of neglect.
He communicated this information through his official Facebook page on Tuesday.
The former vice president, known for his comprehensive policy proposals outlined in “The Atiku Plan (2018)” and “My Covenant With Nigerians (2022),” laments that his calls for breaking the monopoly in infrastructure sectors, including refineries, went unheard. He accuses the government of neglecting the refineries, leaving them idle for years and burdening taxpayers with hefty staff salaries.
Atiku criticises the administration’s approach, highlighting the controversial decision to secure a $1.5 billion loan for rehabilitation before pivoting towards privatisation. He questions the logic behind not selling the refinery before rehabilitation, suggesting that it would have spared the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from unnecessary debt.
He said, “I have always advocated for far-reaching reforms to reposition Nigeria’s oil sector and, indeed, other sectors of our economy. In particular, I had consistently called on the Buhari administration to break its monopoly in all infrastructure sectors, including the refineries, and give investors, both foreign and domestic, a larger role in funding and management.
“My position has been well laid out in The Atiku Plan (2018) and My Covenant With Nigerians (2022). But our suggestions fell on deaf ears. First, they refused to privatise the refineries. They left them idle for years while paying humongous staff salaries.
“Then, they contracted a loan of US$1.5 billion for rehabilitation.
“Now, the current administration wants to turn the rehabilitated refinery to private concerns for operation and maintenance!
“Without prejudice to the terms of the agreement between the NNPC and the private operators, it would undoubtedly have been better if the NNPC had sold the refinery, pre-rehabilitation, to avoid the burden of debt.
“The NNPC must explain to the satisfaction of Nigerians what benefits its newly discovered approach to privatisation will confer on Nigeria and Nigerians.
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