M
inister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has said that plans are underway to privatise four state-owned oil refineries, including the two-unit 210,000 barrel-a-day Port Harcourt refinery, in 2014.
The minister said the process will begin before the end of the first quarter.
According to her, “We would like to see major infrastructural entities such as refineries moving out of government hands into the private sector. Government does not want to be in the business of running major infrastructural entities and we haven’t done a very good job at it over these years” she said.
It would be recalled that efforts made by the past governments to dispose the refineries proved unsuccessful. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the twilight of his administration sold the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries to Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, respectively.
But Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, alleged that there was high level fraud in the sale of the refineries and other national assets which it said were sold to cronies of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, calling for a judicial panel of inquiry into the whole matter.
The union also claimed that the valuation for Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries was made within ten days and without any visit to the site or inspection of the physical structures of the two establishments, adding that $2.15 million was paid to the consulting firm, BNP Paribas for the speculative valuation. Following the public outcry, the government of Former President Musa Yar, Adua reversed the sale.
Perhaps the recent move by the government is precipitated by Kalu Idika Kalu’s National Refineries Special Task Force reports, which revealed the dismal state of Nigeria’s four government-owned refineries, thus depicting how colossal funds spent on their turn around maintenance have gone down the drain.
The report claimed that Nigeria had the third largest refining capacity on the continent with its 445,000 barrel per day installed capacity, but had 18 per cent capacity utilisation and efficiency, compared to South Africa with a capacity of 540,000bd and capacity utilisation of 85 per cent and Egypt with 774,900bd capacity and 81 per cent efficiency level. The report then made a watertight case for the sale of the moribund state-owned refineries.
