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They’ll Never Work Again!’ – Dangote Slams NNPC’s Billion-Dollar Refineries”
The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has cast serious doubt on the possibility of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries—located in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna—ever functioning effectively again, despite consuming over $18 billion in public funds.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
Speaking on Thursday while hosting members of the Global CEO Africa group from the Lagos Business School at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, Dangote said the government-owned refineries under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had failed to deliver results despite decades of investments.
He revealed that his 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery has already dedicated more than 50% of its output to producing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), a stark contrast to the meagre 22% once achieved by the NNPC-operated refineries.
Recalling past efforts to privatise the refineries, Dangote said he and his team purchased the facilities in January 2007 during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, but were forced to relinquish ownership a few months later when President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua took office.
He explained, “We acquired the refineries in January 2007, but had to return them because a change of government occurred. The NNPC managing director at the time told President Yar’Adua that the refineries would work and claimed Obasanjo handed them over to us as a parting gift. Today, those same refineries have swallowed around $18 billion and are still non-functional. Honestly, I doubt very much if they will ever work.”
Dangote likened the federal government’s repeated attempts at turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the obsolete facilities to trying to modernise a 40-year-old car using today’s technology.
“You can change the engine, but the old body won’t handle the new system. That’s the situation with these refineries,” he noted.
His remarks echoed the long-standing criticisms of former President Obasanjo, who has consistently warned that the NNPC was incapable of managing the refineries. Obasanjo revealed that even international oil companies such as Shell declined his request to take over the assets, citing their lack of commercial viability.
According to Obasanjo, Aliko Dangote and other private investors had offered $750 million to acquire the refineries, but the deal was reversed under Yar’Adua. “I told my successor, ‘NNPC cannot do it.’ And I said if you wait too long, even scrap dealers won’t pay $200 million for them,” Obasanjo stated.
The former president accused the NNPC of knowingly mismanaging the refineries to sustain entrenched corruption, insisting, “In any civilised country, the people responsible would be in jail.”
Reinforcing his stance in January 2025, Obasanjo added, “I was told over $2 billion has been wasted on these refineries since we left office, and they still won’t work. If Shell refused to take them, and Dangote is now building from scratch, what does that tell you?”
Obasanjo capped his criticism with a Yoruba proverb: “When a man harvests 100 heaps of yam, but claims he planted 200, he must also harvest 100 lies.”
Public frustration has mounted following the recent re-shutdown of the 60,000 barrels-per-day Port Harcourt refinery—barely six months after the NNPC declared it operational in late 2024. The Warri refinery similarly ceased operations a month after the former Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mele Kyari, commissioned it.
In response, calls for the full privatisation of the refineries have intensified. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) labelled them economic liabilities and urged the federal government to sell them off. Independent refiners also advised that the ageing refineries be scrapped, with proceeds redirected toward building modular refineries.
Despite years of investments, the refineries remain unproductive. In 2021, the federal government approved $1.4 billion for the Port Harcourt refinery’s rehabilitation, while allocating $897 million and $586 million for the Warri and Kaduna refineries, respectively.
Records show that ₦100 billion was spent on refinery rehabilitation in 2021 alone, with ₦8.33 billion disbursed monthly. Between 2013 and 2017, a total of $396.33 million was spent on turnaround maintenance—yet there has been no meaningful output.
As of the time of filing this report, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited could not be reached for comment. The company has no acting spokesperson, and calls and messages to listed contacts on its official website went unanswered.
The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has appealed to residents of Abia State and other road users along the Aba–Azumini highway to protect the newly completed road from activities that could damage it.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
FERMA’s South-East 2 Zonal Director, Suleiman Mohammed Omonowo, issued the warning during an inspection of the project, cautioning against the burning of tyres during celebrations, which he said could damage the road surface.
He noted that destructive practices by some youths and community members often contribute to the early failure of road projects across the country.
“Our advice to road users, especially indigenes, is to protect the road from destruction. Let nobody come and destroy it or burn tyres in the name of celebration,” he said.
Omonowo said the Aba–Azumini highway was previously in a very bad condition before FERMA intervened, describing it as a death trap for commuters and residents.
He also expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done on the project, adding that drainage structures such as catch pits would help prevent flooding and extend the lifespan of the road.
According to him, the highway serves as a major link between Aba, several Abia communities, and Cross River State, carrying heavy traffic daily.
He urged local construction firms to improve on quality delivery to compete effectively with foreign contractors.
Meanwhile, the Federal Roads Maintenance Engineer in Abia State, Festus Okafor, said FERMA workers have not faced harassment or violence from residents during operations in the state.
The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Yobe State Command, has declared a 30-year-old inmate wanted after he escaped following a road accident involving a prison transport vehicle.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
The incident reportedly occurred on April 13, 2026, while inmates were being conveyed from the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Potiskum to Damaturu.
In a statement issued in Damaturu, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSC Abdullahi Adamu, said the vehicle conveying the inmates was involved in a crash during the journey.
He said the accident happened while efforts were ongoing to rescue those affected.
The escaped inmate was identified as Dahiru Mohammed, with prison number J/1539/24, who was admitted into custody on November 29, 2024.
The Correctional Service described him as dangerous and warned members of the public not to have any form of contact with him.
It urged residents to report any useful information that could lead to his re-arrest to the nearest security agency.
Authorities also cautioned that harbouring a fugitive is a criminal offence punishable under the law.
The Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has ordered the University of Ibadan (UI) to reinstate three students suspended over their participation in a protest against tuition fee hikes.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Nkeonye Maha set aside the decision of the university’s Central Student Disciplinary Committee, ruling that the students were denied fair hearing during the disciplinary process.
The court held that the failure to allow the students call witnesses and present evidence violated their constitutional right to fair hearing, rendering the sanctions against them invalid.
The affected students — Aduwo Ayodele, Mide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus — were suspended on July 14, 2025, after taking part in a protest against increased school fees approved by the university’s governing council.
Dissatisfied with the suspension, they approached the court, arguing that the disciplinary proceedings breached their fundamental rights and due process.
They asked the court to quash the suspension, reinstate their studentship, and award damages for alleged rights violations.
In her ruling, Justice Maha agreed with their arguments, stating that the university’s actions failed to meet the standards of natural justice.
Following the judgment, rights group CAPPA hailed the decision, urging the university to comply fully, reinstate the students, and issue an apology.
The group said the ruling reinforces constitutional protections for freedom of expression and serves as a warning against the suppression of student protests in tertiary institutions.
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