- The Arewa Think Tank opposes selling the Dangote Refinery to NNPCL, claiming it undermines President Tinubu’s efforts to revive the economy
- ATT condemned NNPCL’s alleged campaign against the refinery, asserting it aims to frustrate progress in Nigeria’s oil sector and subsidy reforms
The Arewa Think Tank (ATT) has expressed strong opposition to any plans to sell the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity Dangote Refinery to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, recently offered to sell the refinery to NNPCL amidst allegations that the refinery was not duly registered and that its products were of substandard quality. However, ATT has dismissed these claims as being made out of frustration.
In a communique signed by Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu and Rev. Nicholas Daniel Jatau, the convener and co-convener of ATT respectively, the organization condemned the alleged plans by NNPCL to undermine the Dangote Refinery’s formal launch.
The communique reads in part: “We note that NNPCL’s alleged campaign of calumny against the quality of products of Dangote Refinery amounts to frustrating President Bola Tinubu’s move to revive the nation’s economy. However, we are not convinced by some media reports that Aliko Dangote offered to sell his refinery to NNPCL, and we see such reports as an act of frustration forced on him by NNPCL.”
ATT described NNPCL as an impediment to progress in Nigeria’s oil sector, suggesting that certain individuals within NNPCL are keen on preserving the subsidy scam. They stated, “If NNPCL is showing interest in buying Dangote Refinery, then it is not far from pulling down President Tinubu’s government from addressing the fuel crisis in the country because NNPCL is doing so to frustrate Dangote Refinery from complementing Tinubu’s efforts. We don’t want a situation whereby NNPCL is also out to frustrate President Bola Tinubu’s government from succeeding in making socio-economic life better for the citizenry.”
ATT further highlighted NNPCL’s inability to manage the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, questioning its capacity to handle an investment as significant as the Dangote Refinery.