A civil society organisation, under the aegis of the Movement for Anti-Corruption, Integrity and Transparency Initiative, has condemned the recent outburst by former President Olusegun Obasanjo against the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).
Recall that a legal luminary, Femi Falana, had said in a statement he issued on Friday that the Port Harcourt refinery was sold by Obasanjo to a consortium led by Dangote oil, but that late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua, having found out that the deal was not in the best interest of the country, reversed it.
In a statement made available to Blueprint in Abuja, Sunday, jointly signed by its National President, Comrade Goodway Jackson, and Secretary General, Comrade Mohammed Kuda, the group said the recent outburst by the former president has revealed himself as someone who doesn’t want to see the state-owned refineries work.
According to the statement, “To many, former President Obasanjo’s recent outburst on State Refineries may not, after all, be because he means well for the well-being of the nation’s refineries but due to an age-long grudge he holds against NNPCL soon after he left office as president.
“It is due to the personal vendetta he holds against the State Refineries because after he (Obasanjo) left office, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who took over from him, reversed the sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery to a consortium, having seen that its sale was shrouded in controversy.
“According to Falana, a 51 per cent stake in the Port Harcourt Refinery was sold to Bluestar Oil for $561 million and another 51 per cent of Kaduna Refinery was also sold to Bluestar Oil for $160 million on May 28, 2007.
“Many didn’t know until Falana’s revelation that Bluestar Oil was a consortium of three domestic companies, including Dangote Oil, Zenon Oil and Transcorp.
“Even before the not cleared deal, President Obasanjo had acquired large shares in Transcorp through ‘blind trust’, meaning that was part of the owners of the refineries if Late Yar’ Adua had not reversed its sales. Since then, Obasanjo, having lost out being a part of the owners of the state refineries, has been bitter and has refused to see anything good in the management of the state refineries and the oil sector,” the group said.
“Zenon Oil is owned by Femi Otedola, a long-standing friend and ally of Aliko Dangote, who owns Dangote refinery.
“According to Falana, many interest groups in the country questioned the legal validity and moral propriety of the sales as they were consummated in the last days of the Obasanjo administration, as his involvement in the deal raised concerns about the conflicts of interest.
“To make it worse, Falana hinted that under the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act, the Vice President serves as the Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), which oversees the sale of public enterprises, but Obasanjo in his quest to be part of the major owners of the Refineries sidelined then-Vice President Atiku Abubakar and directly managed the privatisation process for several key national assets.
“Even when the two strong trade unions within the oil industry, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) vehemently rejected and kicked against the privatisation of the two refineries on the grounds of conflict of interest and lack of due process, a desperate Obasanjo didn’t stop his selfish move.
“Speaking further, Falana said that the two union in their resolve alleged that nation had been shortchanged as the shares acquired in the Port Harcourt refinery for $516 million were worth US$5 billion.
“Convinced that the deals were not in the national interest, both unions proceeded on a 4-day strike that almost paralysed the Nigerian economy in June 2007.
“The strike was called off based on the assurance of the federal government to the effect that the deals would be fully investigated.
“According to learned silk, upon the conclusion of the investigation by the federal government, the purported privatisation of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries was canceled by then-President Umaru Yar’adua.
“It is on record that the cancellation of the privatisation was not challenged in any court as it was carried out contrary to the letter and spirit of the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act.
“The Alliance on Surviving Covid and Beyond (ASCAB) hereby calls on NUPENG and PENGASSAN to intensify their historical struggle aimed at as a counterpoise to the renewed campaign for the privatisation of the nation’s refineries.
“Those who are awaiting the privatisation of the refineries in a manner at variance with the national interest should be advised to set up their own refineries like the Dangote Group,” the statement said.
