Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has waded into the ongoing investigation of alleged economic sabotage within the petroleum industry, especially the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, after his two terms as the president of the country.
The former president spoke at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, over the weekend.
This was as he also revealed that his administration’s attempt to partner with Shell Petroleum Development Company to manage Nigeria’s refineries was rejected due to excessive corruption and amateur management.
The former president gave his position when he played host to lawmakers from the House of Representatives.
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Obasanjo said: “You talk about the refinery in your opening remark.
“When I was the president, I went and called Shell and said: ‘Shell, look, come and help us to run the refinery, take part, you can take 10 percent, 20 percent, but come and help.’
“They said no.
“I said okay, alright, if you don’t want to take equity, come and run it for me.
“They said no!
“So they left and then I called their head one on one and asked: ‘Why did you turn down the offer?’
“And he gave me five reasons.
“The first reason: they said our refineries are small.
“I think PortHarcourt is 60,000 barrels per day, Kaduna 100,000 per day and Warri is the largest with 120,000 per day and they said the refineries are 250,000 per day.
“So our refineries are small.
“Secondly, we will even run our refineries as a service, but we will make sure we do not run it at a loss.
“But we will make substantial profit upstream.
“So, the refinery, if you run it well, you will break even and make a small profit, but if you don’t run it well, you will run it at a loss.
“For the third reason, they said our refinery the way we have managed it, serviced it is not the way the refinery should be managed and they don’t want to be involved.
“The fourth reason they said to me was corruption around our refinery.
“They did not want to get involved in it.
“When they told me all that, I was completely dumb.
“And then some Nigerians got together and they paid $750 million and I said God has sent this one and my successor said he turned it down and I ran to him and I said you know this is not right and he said NNPC said they can do it and I said NNPC cannot do it.
“I think you are investigating the $1.5 billion that NNPC has spent on the refinery since then and the refineries will not work.
“I told him (his successor) the refinery with all I’ve heard and know will not work and when you want to sell it, you will not get anybody to buy it for $200 million as scrap and that is the situation we are in.
“So why do we do this to ourselves?
“NNPC know they cannot, but they know they can eat and carry on with the corruption that was going on in NNPC and when people were there, they put pressure.
“In a civilised society, those people should be jailed.
“Why do we do this to ourselves?
“And that is NNPC.
“Take anything: National Shipping Line?
“Nigeria Airways?
“Why are we doing this to ourselves?”
