- Legal Loopholes and Stakeholder Pressure Halted Refinery Privatisation
- Falana Commends Unions for Safeguarding National Interests Amid Billion-Dollar Disputes
Prominent human rights lawyer Femi Falana has shed light on the reasons behind former President Umaru Yar’Adua’s decision to reverse the controversial sale of the Port Harcourt refinery to a consortium led by Dangote.
Falana described the move as a necessary correction to legal and ethical breaches in the transaction, aimed at safeguarding Nigeria’s national interests.
In a detailed statement, Falana explained that under the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act, the Vice President chairs the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), the body responsible for overseeing public enterprise sales. He alleged that former President Olusegun Obasanjo bypassed this provision by sidelining Vice President Atiku Abubakar and personally managing the privatisation of critical state-owned enterprises.
Falana revealed that on May 17, 2007, Obasanjo sold a 51% stake in the Port Harcourt refinery to Bluestar Oil for $561 million. Just days later, on May 28, he sold a similar stake in the Kaduna Refinery to the same consortium for $160 million.
“These transactions were fraught with irregularities and sparked fierce opposition from stakeholders, including the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN),” Falana noted.
The unions argued that the deals lacked due process and significantly undervalued the assets. “The 51% stake in the Port Harcourt refinery, sold for $561 million, was later valued at $5 billion,” Falana disclosed, highlighting the scale of alleged financial loss.
Yar’Adua’s administration ultimately reversed the sales, a decision that Falana pointed out was never legally contested. “The cancellation adhered to the provisions of the Privatisation and Commercialisation Act and was a vital step in protecting national assets,” he said.
Falana praised NUPENG and PENGASSAN for their vigilance and advocacy, urging them to remain alert as debates on privatising Nigeria’s refineries resurface. He stressed the need for transparency, accountability, and adherence to due process in managing public assets to prevent future controversies.
The lawyer’s statement underscores lingering concerns about privatisation in Nigeria, particularly regarding its execution and impact on national interests.
