Former Vice President and 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has launched a critique of the federal government’s management of the nation’s oil assets, following reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has reconsidered the viability of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
In a statement, Atiku characterized the $1.5 billion investment into the facility as a waste of scarce resources, asserting that the government’s eventual hesitation validates his long-standing advocacy for full privatization.
Atiku noted that the Tinubu administration has finally hit an inevitable truth regarding the economic futility of pouring public funds into moribund refineries.
He specifically targeted the practice of maintaining a massive payroll for facilities that have failed to contribute to the national fuel supply.
“Paying billions in salaries to facilities that produce not a single litre of petrol does not serve the national interest,” the former Vice President remarked, adding that the turnaround maintenance model has historically served as a sinkhole for billions of dollars while exposing chronic deficits in technical and financial discipline.
The statement also addressed the political backlash Atiku faced during his time in office and his subsequent campaigns for promoting the sale of these assets.
He recalled being vilified and accused of attempting to sell public property to associates, but argued that current realities have vindicated his patriotic position.
He warned that any new arrangements, including those involving foreign partners, should be scrapped to avoid repeating the failed models of the past.
Concluding his critique, Atiku lamented that Nigeria has missed the opportunity to sell the refineries at a higher value before they ballooned debt and depreciated into liabilities.
He emphasized that the push to revive the plants was driven by political optics rather than sound policy. With the national energy crisis persisting, the call for a total exit of the government from the refining business has once again moved to the center of the national discourse.