Kachikwu: I’d have sold refineries but for Buhari

Ibe Kachikwu, group managing director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on Friday said President Muhammadu Buhari advised against selling of the nation’s refineries.

Addressing journalists in Lagos, Kachikwu said the refineries were currently working at 30 per cent capacity as against the minimum of 60 per cent required to generate profit.

“Personally, I will have chosen to sell the refineries, but President Buhari has instructed that they should be fixed,” he said.

“After they are fixed, if they still operate below 60 per cent, then we will know what to do.

“The 90-day ultimatum for the refineries to be fixed will end in December and Port Harcourt Refinery looks like the only one that will meet the deadline, but we will wait and see what happens at the end of the 90 days.”

He said the corporation will embark on a transparency operation to regain its lost credibility, saying the first step in that regard would be an audit of the corporation’s finances, which was last audited in 2010‎.

He said the corporation’s finance will not only be audited and brought up to date, but will also be made available to the public.

Kachikwu said the transparency operation will involve posting of the corporation’s activities on its website regularly, adding that along with the regular data, there will also be a weekly broadcast of issues concerning the corporation on its website.

“Contracts will be made open to the public and we will choose the best module that works for us and that helps us save money,” he said.

“We need to clean the system and carry everybody along. The concept of what is right and wrong will take us very far. Though there are huge challenges in driving the corporation forward, they will be surmounted with good planning and efficiency.”

Kachikwu assured Nigerians that although the challenge of cleaning NNPC will be a bumpy ride, it will be exciting and it will eventually yield positive results.