President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has expressed doubts over the possibility of government-owned Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries functioning again.
Dangote wondered why the refineries under the control of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), had not been functional despite $18bn spent on turn around maintenance.
He spoke on Thursday while hosting members of the Global CEO Africa from the Lagos Business School, after a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos.
“The refineries that we bought before, which were owned by Nigeria, were doing about 22 per cent of PMS. We bought the refineries in January 2007.
Then we had to return them to the government because there was a change of government.“And the managing director at that time convinced Yar’adua that the refineries would work.
They said they just gave them to us as a parting gift or so. And as of today, they have spent about $18bn on those refineries, and they are still not working. And I don’t think, and I doubt very much if they will work,” he said.
Dangote emphasised that the turnaround maintenance of the refineries was like trying to modernise a car built 40 years ago, when technology has advanced.“(The turnaround maintenance) is like you trying to modernise a car that was built 40 years ago, when technology and everything have changed. Even if you change the engine, the body will not be able to take the shock of that new technology engine,” he stated.
