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The president of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has stated that Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, positioned in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, might by no means function correctly once more regardless of about $18 billion invested of their rehabilitation.
Alhaji Dangote disclosed this whereas internet hosting members of the World CEO Africa, who visited the Dangote Petroleum Refinery yesterday.
He stated the 650,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery was constructed after the federal government of late President Umar Yar’adua declined to promote the refineries to him.
He stated, “The refineries that we purchased earlier than, which have been owned by Nigeria, have been doing about 22 per cent of PMS. We purchased the refineries in January 2007. Then we needed to return them to the federal government as a result of there was a change of presidency.
“And the managing director at the moment satisfied Yar’adua that the refineries would work. They stated they only gave them to us as a parting present or so. And as of right now, they’ve spent about $18bn on these refineries, and they’re nonetheless not working. And I don’t suppose, and I doubt very a lot if they’ll work.”
“(The turnaround upkeep) is such as you attempting to modernise a automobile that was constructed 40 years in the past, when expertise and the whole lot had modified. Even when you change the engine, the physique won’t be able to take the shock of that new expertise engine.”
Recall that the previous President Obasanjo had final yr expressed related feedback, including that the NNPC was conscious that it couldn’t function the refineries.
He stated some buyers, together with Aliko Dangote, paid $750 million to take over the refineries; nevertheless, his successor, Yar’adua, aborted the transaction.
He stated, “I ran to him (Yar’Adua), and I stated, ‘You already know this isn’t proper.’ He stated, ‘Properly, NNPC stated they’ll do it.’ I stated, ‘NNPC can not do it.’ I instructed my successor that ‘the refineries, from what I heard and know, is not going to work, and while you wish to promote them, you’ll not get anyone to purchase them at $200m as scrap.’ And that’s the state of affairs we’re in.
“So, why can we do this type of factor to ourselves? NNPC knew that they might not do it, however they knew they might eat and keep it up with the corruption that was occurring in NNPC. When folks have been there to do it, they put strain. In a civilised society, these folks needs to be in jail.”
Earlier this yr, former President Obasanjo additionally stated, “I used to be instructed not too way back that since that point, greater than $2bn has been squandered on the refineries, and so they nonetheless is not going to work.
“If an organization like Shell tells me what they instructed me, I’ll consider them. If anyone tells you now that it (the refinery) is working, why are they now with Aliko (Dangote)? And Aliko will make his refinery work; he is not going to solely make it work, however he may also make it ship.”
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