The President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harris, has attributed the failure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s attempt to privatize four state-owned refineries to poor handling and exclusion of key stakeholders.
Gillis-Harris, while speaking on a live television programme on Monday, recounted his opposition to the privatisation process during his tenure as President of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce.
He criticized the government’s approach, stating it lacked inclusivity and thorough planning.
“I was president of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce when the earlier privatisation by President Olusegun Obasanjo was attempted, and we as a chamber rose up and let him know that we have businesses operating in Rivers State, and we should have a stake and a say in how that business works.
“Of course, as usual, government wakes up with policies and they want to run with it without digging deep and driving through the process of how those policies can be effectively implemented. The privatisation process did not work,” he added.
Former President Obasanjo recently revealed in a television interview that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had rejected Aliko Dangote’s $750 million offer to run the refineries.
Obasanjo lamented that after the offer was declined, the refineries consumed over $2 billion yet remained non-functional.
“When I was president, I wanted to do something about the three refineries we have: Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna.
“Aliko Dangote brought a team… they paid $750m to take out in PPP on running the refinery. My successor refunded their money, and I was told since then more than $2bn have been squandered on the refinery, and they still could not work,” Obasanjo said.
Despite prior obstacles, the PETROAN president praised NNPC Limited’s achievements under the leadership of Mele Kyari.
He emphasised the relaunch of the Port Harcourt Refining Company and the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and praised Kyari’s team for overcoming several challenges.
“Today, to the glory of God, the Mele Kyari-led team has delivered on their work with so much ups and downs,” Gillis-Harris said.
In a statement released on Sunday, PETROAN urged the Federal Governmentnt to provide a N100 billion grant to support the businesses of approximately 10,000 oil marketers.
The association argued that such a grant would stabilize the supply of petroleum products and make them more affordable for Nigerians.
Gillis-Harris also proposed the establishment of an Energy Bank of Nigeria to facilitate financing for the oil and gas sector.
“The N100bn intervention fund is requested because it will help us to cushion the cost of money in our business and that will go a long way to make petroleum products available and affordable to Nigerians,” he explained.
He went on, “They just need to set up a bank as fast as possible and make that a seed capital for us to be able to access, just like the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture.”
The PETROAN president urged immediate action, highlighting the importance of long-term solutions to Nigeria’s oil and gas concerns.
