Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) declined a $750 million offer from billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote in 2007 to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries. Obasanjo made this revelation during an exclusive interview with Channels Television, citing inefficiencies within the NNPC at the time.
According to Obasanjo, Dangote had assembled a team and proposed a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to oversee the refineries. However, the NNPC rejected the offer despite its evident struggles with refinery management. “My successor refunded their money,” Obasanjo stated, adding that he confronted his successor, who insisted the NNPC was capable of managing the refineries.
The former president expressed skepticism about the decision, emphasizing that the NNPC’s inability to run the refineries was well-known. “I now said but you know they cannot run it,” Obasanjo recounted, highlighting what he described as a missed opportunity for a more efficient management system.
Obasanjo, who served as Nigeria's President from 1999 to 2007 and as a Military Head of State from 1976 to 1979, lamented the setback, calling attention to the lingering challenges in the country’s energy sector.
