Juliet Amaka
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has opened up on how Otedola and Dangote offered $761 million to buy two out of four of Nigeria’s refineries.
The former president disclosed this during an interview with TheCable.
He noted that just when he had given up on the refineries which he described as a big problem, God did a miracle by sending Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, who both approached him to buy two of the refineries.
According to Obasanjo, at the time, Dangote and Otedola said they would buy a 51% stake in Port Harcourt and Kaduna and ended up paying $761 million in two installments.
However, he said Umaru Musa Yar’Adua canceled the sale and returned the refineries to NNPC.
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Responding to questions posed on the state of Nigeria’s refineries, Obasanjo said,
“I knew we had a big problem on our hands. I had virtually given up hope on the refineries when God did a miracle.
“Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola approached me and said they would be interested in buying two of the four refineries. They said they would buy a 51 percent stake in Port Harcourt and Kaduna. I was over the moon.
“I said, finally, this burden would be taken off the neck of the government. They offered $761 million and paid in two installments. Unfortunately, Umaru (President Yar’Adua) canceled the sale and returned the refineries to NNPC. Today, we are still where we were.”
“Someone told me Tinubu said refineries would work by December. I told the person the refineries would not work. This is based on the information I received from Shell when I was the president,”
