Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the four oil refineries in Nigeria will never work.

The four refineries are located in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna states.

Obasanjo said the refineries will never work as long as the government continues to hold onto them.

The former president who stated this in an interview with The Cable Online Newspaper, said Shell Oil Development Company turned down his offer to them to run the refineries.

He disclosed that after much persuasion the managing director of Shell, at the time, listed four reasons why the oil company wouldn’t get involved in running Nigeria’s refineries, including “too much corruption in refineries.”

Recall that President Bola Tinubu last month assured that the petroleum refinery in Port Harcourt will start working by December 2023.

Tinubu, had in a statement by former presidential spokesman, Dele Alake, in August, said the “Port Harcourt refineries will start production by December 2023 after the completion of the ongoing rehabilitation contract between NNPCL and Italian firm, Maire Tecnimont SpA.”

The President stated this when he met with labour unions at the State House in Abuja to halt the last nationwide protest.

Labour, had among other things, demanded the government’s commitment to getting local refineries to work, an objective that has gulped about N11.35 trillion in the last 10 years.

But responding to a question on the state of Nigeria’s refineries in the interview, Obasanjo said, “They will not work as long as the government is keeping hold of them. When I was president, I invited Shell to a meeting. I told them I wanted to hand over the refineries for them to help us run. They bluntly told me they would not. I was shocked.

“I repeated the request and they stood their ground. When the meeting was over, I asked their big man (MD) to wait behind for a little chat. Then I asked him why they were so hesitant on not taking over the refineries. He said did I want to hear the truth? I said yes. He listed four reasons. One, he said Shell makes its money from upstream and that is where its interest lies. Two, he said they only do downstream or retail as a matter of service. Three, he said our refineries would be bad business for them, that globally, companies are going for bigger refineries because of the economics of refineries. Four, he said there is too much corruption in refineries.

“I thanked him for his honesty. I knew we had a big problem in our hands. I had virtually given up hope on the refineries when God did a miracle. Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola approached me and said they would be interested in buying two of the four refineries. They said they would buy 51 percent stake in Port Harcourt and Kaduna. I was over the moon. I said, finally, this burden would be taken off the neck of the government. They offered $761 million and paid in two instalments. Unfortunately, Umaru (President Yar’Adua) cancelled the sale and returned the refineries to NNPC. Today, we are still where we were. Someone told me Tinubu said refineries would work by December. I told the person the refineries would not work. This is based on the information I received from Shell when I was the president.”

On the power sector, Obasanjo said “You can only get the power sector right when you get all the fundamentals in the power sector right. In 2006, we ordered 42 turbines that should have been completed if not by 2007 then in 2008. My target was 10,000 megawatts of power by 2007.

“Up till today, I understand that five of the turbines have yet to be installed. I have been out of the office for 16 years. If after 18 years when those turbines had been ordered, five have still not been installed, what are you talking about?”

He said his administration did all it could do in the sector he left office, adding that it is still struggling with 4,000 megawatts since he left office in

Restates no going back on subsidy removal

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that Nigeria, which used to be the sleeping giant of the world, is now ready to take its rightful place in the global arena.

“Nigeria, the sleeping giant of Africa, has woke up from its slumber,” Senator Shettima said on Tuesday at the 16th Annual Banking and Finance Conference holding in Abuja.

Shettima, therefore, restated that the withdrawal of fuel subsidy was irrevocable.

The Vice President said President Bola Tinubu was determined to catapult the nation to higher pedestal.

He enjoined the participants at the conference to come on board to help build a nation for all.

“This is a great nation on chains.

The potentials are there. It’s the leadership that is missing. That is what is lacking in our midst. We have the resources. We are closer to Europe than India,” he said.

The Vice President said the current administration was partnering with some banks to drive a digital economic process. He said some banks were already working with government to teach our young men digital skills to compete in the global digital space.

“Let’s walk the talk. We are open for business. Nigeria is the destination of choice for any savvy investors,” he said, while encouraging the bankers’ committee to utilise emerging and distracting technologies to harness Nigeria’s economic opportunities.

“We must prioritise financial inclusion and equal opportunity for everyone,” he added.

While noting that the forum was not one for name calling, Shettima said it was a sanctuary for innovation and vision for a better economy.

He ended his speech with the claim that as depressive as Nigeria’s challenges were, they are also pregnant with opportunities.

He told the participants that the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu-led administration can’t be fully implemented without their cooperation, adding that, “We seek your partnership in getting this done.”

The National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State yesterday dismissed three petitions filed by aggrieved candidates to challenge the outcome of the National Assembly elections held on February 25,2023.

The tribunal in a judgement dismissed the petition filed by Senator Biodun Olujimi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the election of Senator Yemi Adaramodu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti South senatorial district.

It also dismissed the petitions filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by Engr Dare Bankole, a candidate of PDP in Ekiti/Oke-Ero/Irepodun/Isin Federal Constituency of the House of Representatives in the election as well as another petition filed by the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) on election into Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency of Kwara state.

Delivering judgment on the petition filed by Senator Olujimi, Justice J.O. Abdulmalik ruled that there was no malpractice and over voting in the election as alleged in Olujimi’s petition.

“The petitioner failed to prove his case that there was corruption and over voting in the Ekiti douth senatorial district election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission on February 25,2023,” the tribunal held.

It awarded a cost of N300,000 against the petitioner which Justice AbdulMalik said should be paid to the three respondents who included INEC, Adaramodu and APC.

On the petition filed by Dare Bankole against INEC on the election into Ekiti/Oke-Ero/Irepodun/Isin Federal Constituency of Kwara state, Justice Abdulmalik dismissed the petition and awarded cost of N600,000 against the petitioner which she said should be paid to the respondents who included INEC, Hon Raheem Ajuloopin and the APC.

Bankole had challenged the results of the election conducted in the Constituency on February 25,2023 alleging non compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act and malpractices during the conduct of the election.

The tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove his case before it.

Reading another judgment delivered by the tribunal, Chief Magistrate Izabi Bashir also dismissed a petition filed by the NNPP on the election conducted into Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency on February 25,2023.

The Petitioner had alleged non compliance with the Electoral Act and corrupt practices in the election by the APC and it candidate, Hon Tijani Bashir.

The tribunal ordered the petitioner to pay a fine of N200,000 to each of the three respondents.

Dangote Cement has clarified the allegation that it is selling a bag of 50kg cement to Nigerians at an exploitative rate of N5,200 while it sells the same quantity of cement at N1,500 in the Republic of Benin was not true.

Investigation in Cotonou at the weekend revealed that Dangote Cement was not on sale in Cotonou or anywhere in the Republic of Benin. While Dangote does not officially export cement to Benin Republic, it only uses the country as its transit route to export cement to Togo.

It was discovered that the average price of 50kg (32.5r) bag of cement in the Benin Republic was N6,216, which was about 4,200 Cefa).

The two strongest determinants of the price of cement in the Republic of Benin, according to THISDAY’s findings, were the fixing of cement’s price by the country’s government to ensure stability and the imposition of about 51 per cent duty and other taxes on imported cement to discourage importation of the commodity and encourage local production of cement.

An online publication had published a story on August 27, 2023, in which it had stated that, “Nigerians have taken to social media to call out billionaire Aliko Dangote for selling his bag of cement for N5,200 in his own country but selling at N1,500 in Benin Republic.”

However, a Cotonou-based chief executive officer of Marketing Challenge Agency (MCA), Mr. Dia Ibrahim Kola said that the government of the Republic of Benin was striving to maintain a stable price of cement in the country through a price regulation regime instead of subsidising its supply.

He said the country’s policy was to discourage importation of cement and encourage its local production with high import duty and taxes for cements that do not qualify under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

“We have about four cement manufacturers, including Lafarge and others. The government has a fixed price and often sends a taskforce to monitor compliance, especially in Cotonou.

“But it is important to emphasise that the government does not subsidise the price of cement in Benin.

There was a period of high scarcity that the price went up to CFA 100,000 per tonne, which forced the government to intervene to stabilise the market,” he said.

However, the management of Dangote Cement clarified that the price of a bag of cement from its factories across Nigeria as at August 28, 2023, was N4,010 (about 2,730 Cefa) in Okpella and N4,640 (about 3,135 Cefa) in Ibese, Objana, and Gboko. It added that transportation costs and the location of delivery, might cause the prices to hover between N5,000 and N5,300 per bag 50kg.

Group managing director of Dangote Cement, Mr. Arvind Pathak, advised that, it was important to distinguish Dangote Cement’s ex-factory prices from prices at which retailers sell cement in the market.

Pathak said Dangote Cement was focused on delivering quality cement at the best price possible, despite the current inflationary environment.

“We continue to innovate new ways to deliver quality products to millions of our customers across Africa, while providing top-notch customer services. At Dangote Cement, we are committed to building an inclusive and sustainable business for all stakeholders across the value chain,” he said.