An energy expert, Dan D. Kunle, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take what he described as one of the most defining decisions of his administration by privatising Nigeria’s four government-owned refineries, arguing that the facilities have become a crippling burden on the nation’s economy.
In an open letter addressed to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Kunle described the Port Harcourt Refinery I, Port Harcourt Refinery II, Warri Refinery and Kaduna Refinery as “NNPC’s four diseased fingers,” insisting that they have consumed enormous public resources for decades without delivering reliable refining capacity for Nigerians.
According to him, successive governments have continued to pour billions of naira into repeated rehabilitation projects that have yielded little or no meaningful results, while critical sectors such as healthcare, education, security, power and infrastructure remain underfunded.
Kunle, who commended Tinubu for taking difficult decisions such as removing fuel subsidy and liberalising the foreign exchange market, argued that the President now has another opportunity to cement his legacy through the transparent privatisation of the refineries.
Drawing a comparison with the privatisation of Eleme Petrochemicals during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he said the success recorded under private ownership demonstrated that government should withdraw from operating commercial enterprises and allow competent investors to unlock their value.
He questioned why Nigerians continue to receive repeated assurances about refinery rehabilitation despite decades of failed promises, noting that announcements about turnaround maintenance, technical partners and rehabilitation have consistently ended without lasting improvements in refining operations.
The energy expert proposed that President Tinubu should direct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to transfer the four refineries to the National Council on Privatisation and the Bureau of Public Enterprises for a transparent, competitive and legally compliant sale process to be concluded within one year.
He recommended that prospective investors—including the reported Chinese partners—should participate in an open bidding exercise alongside qualified Nigerian and international investors, with the entire process conducted transparently and all transaction details made public.
Kunle also suggested an ownership structure in which 85 per cent of each refinery would be sold to core investors, five per cent allocated to host states and 10 per cent retained by the Federal Government, arguing that such an arrangement would attract long-term investment while reducing political interference.
He warned against transferring strategic national assets through opaque arrangements disguised as technical partnerships or memoranda of understanding, cautioning that poorly structured transactions could expose Nigeria to prolonged legal disputes, international arbitration and potential asset seizures abroad.
According to him, the Bureau of Public Enterprises already provides the lawful framework for privatisation and remains the most credible route for disposing of the assets in a manner that protects Nigeria’s long-term interests.
Kunle further argued that NNPC Limited should redirect its attention to areas where it can create greater national value, including expanding upstream oil production, securing crude supply, protecting pipeline infrastructure and strengthening the country’s energy security instead of sustaining what he described as failed downstream assets.
He maintained that revenues generated from Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector should no longer be diverted to finance refineries that have repeatedly failed to meet expectations, insisting that those resources would be better invested in hospitals, schools, roads, electricity and other critical sectors capable of improving the lives of millions of Nigerians.
Describing the decision before President Tinubu as a historic opportunity, Kunle said future generations would judge whether the current administration ended decades of waste or simply prolonged them, urging the President to pursue a transparent privatisation process guided by the law and the national interest.
He concluded that Nigeria has reached a point where difficult but necessary reforms can no longer be postponed, insisting that “sometimes, healing begins only when a diseased part is removed.”
(Ripples)
