OPEN INVITATION: Obasanjo Flays NNPCL, Says Invitation to Inspect Plants Disrespectful

By: Olufemi Orunsola 

Vocal Nigerian Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has faulted the recent invitation extended to him by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, describing it as disrespectful.

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News had recently reported that the NNPCL, through its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, invited the former president for a tour of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries following a recent media interview on Channels Television during which the former President recounted failed efforts to privatise oil plants in the country, expressing his frustration over the mismanagement of refineries in the country.

Obasanjo, it would be recalled, noted that despite significant expenditure since 2007, no results had been achieved.

The ex-president observed that although his successor, late Musa Yar’Adua, rejected a $750m offer from the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries, the NNPCL which was aware of its limitations in managing the nation’s refineries misinformed Yar’Adua that the corporation could successfully operate the refineries, making the late President to the reject Dangote’s offer at that time. 

Obasanjo, in the interview, blamed the NNPCL for failure to allow private companies engage with the country's refineries saying, "

When I was president, I wanted to do something about the three refineries we have: Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna. Aliko got a team together after I asked Shell to come and run it for us. And Shell said they wouldn’t. I said, ‘Please come and take equity’, they said no. I said, ‘Okay, don’t take equity, come and run it’, they said no."

He further recalled that "Aliko got a team together and they paid $750m to take part in PPP (Public–Private Partnership) in running the refineries. My successor refunded their money, and I went to my successor; I told him what transpired; he said NNPC said they wanted the refinery and they could run it, and I said, ‘But you know they cannot run it.”

The former president who expressed confidence in the ability of Dangote refinery to manage his privately owned refinery effectively, contrasting it with the government’s inefficiency, stressed that if a company like Shell rejected his offer to manage the refineries based on their reasons, he would believe the company.

In a swift but tactical response to the revelations and positions taken by the former president, the NNPCL spokesperson Femi Soneye insisted that the refineries were working.

Soneye explained that the NNPCL had not only carried out turnaround maintenance on the plants but also embarked on a complete overhaul of the refineries to meet world-class standards.

He therefore announced the invitation to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to take a tour of the facilities at the refineries, perhaps to convince, the ex-president about their functionality. 

However, Obasanjo in his own reaction to the invitation in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, sighted by OTN News revealed that such an open invitation was disrespectful to his office and person.

The former president, who spoke through his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, stated that the oil company had not sent any formal invitation to him as of Thursday, January 2, 2024.

He therefore queried to know the rectitude of the open invitation saying, "Is that the right way to invite a former president of the country? Who says Baba has even seen the statement or read the news? It is a total disrespect for the office of the former president.

“Ask the NNPCL that as of January 2, have they written to him? Is there any official letter addressed to him, inviting him to the refinery? It is an absolute insult, and the former president cannot dignify such with a response,” Obasanjo’s aide stated.

As at the time of filing this report, the objections raised by Chief Obasanjo could not be confirmed as the spokesperson could not be reached for confirmation.

Meanwhile, Baba Obasanjo, as the former President is fondly called by many seem to be getting sympathy from some quarters over his perceived inappropriacy of the open invitation extended to him by the NNPCL as the Secretary-General of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Sola Ebiseni, has affirmed that the open invitation to the former president is indeed wrong.

According to Ebiseni, it is L "disrespectful for the NNPCL to have invited the former president through newspaper publications after he rightly commented on the management deficiencies that had grounded Nigeria’s refineries for years."

Ebiseni further maintained that, "What former President Obasanjo said was quite illuminating about the way the affairs of the country have been or are being handled. He has been out of office since 2007, and until now, what we have seen is the epileptic performance of the refineries. So, it is sheer arrogance and disrespect for the NNPCL to claim they invited him to come and see."

 He also noted that, "If you want to invite a statesman and former president like Obasanjo, no matter how you feel about the statement he made, you shouldn’t resort to disrespectful politics. If you believe that what he said does not reflect the current state of the plants, you should pay him a courtesy visit to present your views about the situation. But to go on the pages of newspapers to paint a picture of a liar—which is what the NNPCL’s action implies—leaves much to be desired".

In a similar vein, the National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties, Chief Peter Ameh, said inviting the former president through newspapers amounted to public ridicule and utter disrespect for his history, reputation, and record in the country.

You cannot invite Obasanjo on the pages of newspapers. Even the GMD cannot invite another company head in such a manner, not to mention someone who has served both as a General in the Nigerian Army and as a military Head of State, as well as a two-term democratically elected president of the country. The NNPCL must learn how to do things the right way and avoid politicising everything, as this is why our economy has nosedived.

“That is simply the NNPCL’s usual way of prioritising politics over issues that affect the lives of ordinary Nigerians. If Obasanjo says the refineries are not working after we have wasted about $2 billion on them, he is merely stating that we should have handed the plants over to private individuals to get them working optimally through private partnerships.”

On the flip side of this development, OTN News reports that some Nigerian Netizens have blamed the former President, accusing him of playing the Ostrich game over the functionality of the refineries in the country and the role he played to fix the problem when he was in office, querring if he was the only former Nigerian President who has the right to criticize every government of the day without owning up to his own shortcomings while in government.