Atiku to FG: List NNPC on stock market to boost profit, enhance transparency

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, has asked the federal government to immediately list the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited on the stock exchange in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Atiku spoke in a statement on Sunday while reacting to the decision of the NNPC to hand over the Warri and Kaduna refineries to private operators who are expected to manage and operate them.

On August 30, NNPC announced that it is seeking to engage reputable and credible operations and maintenance (O&M) companies to operate and maintain the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC).

Atiku, in the statement, said listing the oil company will ensure profitability and development in the country.

“The NNPCL is supposed to have been listed on the stock exchange in line with the Petroleum Industry Act. This would make the company more profitable and enhance transparency and corporate governance,” he said.

“Currently, the NNPCL claims to be private, but this is only a ruse to fool the feeble-minded because it remains the ATM of the federal government. Anything short of listing the NNPCL on the stock exchange is nothing but a cosmetic development.”

Atiku said the oil company continues to provide a “cover of political protection to the Tinubu government’s policy inconsistency on the payment of subsidy, raising questions about the independence that the PIA requires of the NNPC Limited as a private business concern”.

The politician also said previous arrangements and concessions had not worked because of a lack of transparency in the contract award processes as well as the failure of the government to attract investors.

‘INVOLVE BPE, TECHNICAL PARTNERS’

The former vice-president said for such a deal to succeed, “the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and a credible technical partner like Standard and Poor’s (S&P) must be part of the process”.

“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo revealed recently that even Shell, one of the world’s wealthiest oil companies, rejected the offer to operate Nigeria’s refineries,” he added.

“This is because the NNPCL has, for years, been a cesspool of endemic corruption.

“This is why over $20bn that has been spent on the refineries in the last 20 years has led to nowhere.

“It is also curious that a government that is still paying petrol subsidy is trying to make its refineries profitable. Which businessman will invest in a refinery that has been programmed to operate at a loss?

“The manage and operate approach has not always worked. The Manitoba Hydro International, which was handed the Transmission Company of Nigeria, led nowhere.

“Similarly, Global Steel Limited, which was handed the Ajaokuta Steel Company, was not able to make the facility profitable.

“The contract was questionably revoked by the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration, and Nigeria ended up paying Global Steel a compensation of nearly $500m while Ajaokuta remains comatose 17 years later.”

Atiku advised the NNPC not to make the contract process opaque “like it did with OVH last year”.

He said the OVH deal was dubious and has failed to boost the company’s petrol sufficiency as evidenced by the months-long fuel scarcity.

“In 2022, Nueoil, an unknown and newly registered company, acquired OVH and Oando filling stations. Barely four months later, NNPCL Retail bought Nueoil and took control of all its assets, including the Oando filling stations,” Atiku added.

“Barely eight months later, OVH turned around to take over NNPCL Retail. This convoluted transaction was done to hide the corruption involved.”

Atiku said if the company chooses this approach in handing over its refineries to private hands, then “Nigerians should not expect any positive development whatsoever”.