Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has recounted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) rejected a lucrative $750 million offer from billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote to take over the management of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries in 2007.
In a candid interview with Channels Television, Obasanjo disclosed that although the NNPC acknowledged its struggles in managing the refineries effectively, it still chose to reject Dangote’s proposal.
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The former president’s comments shed light on a missed opportunity that could have potentially addressed some of the long-standing issues facing Nigeria’s oil refining sector.
According to him: “Aliko got a team together and they paid $750m to take part in PPP (Public–Private Partnership) in running the refineries.
“My successor refunded their money and I went to my successor and told him what transpired. He said NNPC said they wanted the refineries and they can run it. I now said but you know they cannot run it.”
Obasanjo served as President from May 1999 to May 2007 and as the Military Head of State from February 1976 to October 1979.
 rejected a lucrative $750 million offer from billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote to take over the management of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries in 2007.){kind=link}