Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, has expressed significant doubt regarding the potential for Nigeria’s state-owned Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries to become operational again.
He stated that these refineries, managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), have already consumed approximately $18 billion without becoming functional.
The billionaire businessman shared these views on Thursday while hosting members of the Global CEO Africa from the Lagos Business School, following their tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos.
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Dangote recounted that he built his 650,000-capacity refinery after the government of late President Umar Yar’adua cancelled his previous acquisition of the government refineries.
He highlighted that his refinery now dedicates over 50 percent of its output to Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), a stark contrast to government refineries which he said committed only 22 percent of their production to petrol.
He recalled returning the refineries to the Yar’adua government a few months after former President Olusegun Obasanjo left office in 2007.
According to Dangote, the former managers convinced Yar’adua that Obasanjo had sold the facilities below cost as a “parting gift.”
“And as of today, they have spent about $18bn on those refineries, and they are still not working. And I don’t think, and I doubt very much if they will work,” Dangote stated.
He further emphasized that attempting to carry out turnaround maintenance on these old refineries is akin to trying to modernize a car built 40 years ago when technology has fundamentally advanced.
“(The turnaround maintenance) is like you trying to modernise a car that was built 40 years ago, when technology and everything have changed. Even if you change the engine, the body will not be able to take the shock of that new technology engine,” he explained.
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