WHY SALE OF PORT HARCOUT REFINERY TO DANGOTE WAS CANCELLED BY PRESIDENT YA’ARADUA - Femi Falana

Under the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act, the Vice President  is the chairman  of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), a body that is  charged with overseeing the privatisation and commercialisation of public enterprises.

In utter breach of the Act, President Olusegun Obasanjo sidelined Vice President Atiku Abubakar and took over the privatisation of a number of public enterprises.

On May 17, 2007, President Obasanjo sold a 51% stake in the Port Harcourt refinery to Bluestar Oil for US$561 million.  In another transaction that took place on  May 28, 2007, President Obasanjo sold  51% shares in Kaduna Refinery to Bluestar Oil for $160 million.

Bluestar Oil was a consortium of three domestic companies, including Dangote Oil, Zenon Oil, and Transcop. Before the deal, President Obasanjo had acquired large shares in Transcorp through "blind trust." Many interest groups in the country  questioned the legal validity and moral propriety of the sales as they were consummated in the last days of the Obasanjo Administration.

The two powerful trade unions in the oil industry —the  National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) kicked against the privatisation of the two refineries on grounds of conflict of interest and lack of due process. They also alleged that the nation had been shortchanged as the shares acquired in the Port Harcourt refinery for $516 million were worth US$5 billion.

Convinced that the deals were not in the national  interest, both unions proceeded on a 4-day strike that almost paralysed the Nigerian economy in June 2007. The strike was called off based on the assurance of the federal  government to the effect that the deals would be fully investigated.

Upon the conclusion of the investigation by the federal government, the purported privatisation of the Port Harcout and Kaduna refineries was cancelled by President Umaru  Yar’adua. It is on record that the cancellation of the privatisation was not challenged in any court as it was carried out contrary to the letter and spirit of the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act.

The Alliance on Surviving Covid and Beyond (ASCAB) hereby calls on NUPENG and PENGASSAN to intensify their historical struggle aimed at as a counterpoise to the renewed campaign for the privatisation of the nation’s refineries. 

Those who are awaiting the  privatisation of the refineries

in a manner at variance with the national interest should be advised to set up their own refineries like the Dangote Group.