Nigeria’s Refineries May Never Work Again Despite $18 Billion Spent on Repairs

Billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote has cast serious doubt on the future of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, warning that they may never function again despite swallowing over $18 billion in turnaround maintenance under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)

Speaking during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, the business magnate said the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries have remained largely unproductive, even after repeated rehabilitation efforts.

“I doubt very much if they will ever work. Spending $18 billion is like trying to modernize a 40-year-old car with new engine tech it won’t survive the shock,” Dangote said.

He recalled his earlier acquisition of the refineries under former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007. However, the deal was reversed under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, following claims by NNPC officials that the assets were sold below market value.

“We were forced to return the refineries after just a few months. NNPC insisted they could manage them. But nearly two decades and billions of dollars later, they’re still not working,” he noted.

The Dangote Refinery, now producing 650,000 barrels per day with over 50% dedicated to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), far exceeds the government-owned refineries’ historical 22% PMS output, Dangote added.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has also weighed in, saying NNPC’s refusal to allow credible private operators to manage the facilities contributed to the failure.

“Even Shell turned me down when I asked them to manage the refineries. Nigerian investors, including Dangote, once paid $750 million for them, but the deal was overturned. Today, they’re worth less than $200 million as scrap,” Obasanjo lamented.

He accused the NNPC of enabling corruption under the guise of refinery maintenance and expressed frustration over repeated failures despite more than $2 billion spent recently.

“If a reputable firm like Shell says it won’t work, I believe them. Yet, we keep hearing lies,” he said, quoting a Yoruba proverb: ‘He who harvests 100 heaps of yam but claims 200 will also have 100 heaps of lies.’

Further complicating matters, Maire Tecnimont S.P.A, the Italian firm awarded a \$1.5 billion contract to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt refinery, has refused to disclose a completion date. This followed a Freedom of Information request by human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN).

In a letter, the company’s legal team stated that as a private contractor, it was not obligated to respond under Nigeria’s FOI Act.