Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, has cast serious doubt on the functionality of Nigeria’s government-owned refineries, despite the government spending an estimated $18 billion on them over the years.
Speaking during a visit by members of the Global CEO Africa group from the Lagos Business School to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, Dangote said the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) are unlikely to operate effectively again.
“The refineries that we bought in January 2007 were doing about 22% of PMS. We returned them to the government after a change in leadership. The managing director at the time assured President Umar Yar’Adua they would work. But after spending $18bn, they are still not working. I seriously doubt they ever will,” Dangote said.
He likened the government’s attempts to rehabilitate the aging plants to retrofitting a 40-year-old car with a modern engine. “Even if you change the engine, the body can’t take the shock of that new technology,” he noted.
Dangote also revisited the 2007 sale and subsequent reversal of the refineries, revealing how he and his partners were forced to return them to the government after President Obasanjo left office. He said political interference and misinformation scuttled the privatization effort.
His comments echo former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent criticisms of the NNPC and its handling of the refineries. Obasanjo had said that international oil companies like Shell had once refused to manage the facilities because of their poor state and insisted that they were no longer commercially viable.
Several industry stakeholders, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and independent crude refiners, have urged the Federal Government to privatize or scrap the refineries entirely. Some have suggested that the proceeds should be invested in modular refineries, which are more cost-effective and efficient.
Despite the government approving over $2.8 billion for the rehabilitation of the three major refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, they remain non-operational. The recent shutdown of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries—just months after being declared “reopened”—has intensified calls for their sale.
NNPC has yet to respond to these concerns, and efforts to reach the company through official channels have so far been unsuccessful.