In a bold critique of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the National Publicity Secretary of the Petroleum Products and Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Joseph Obele, has publicly opposed the company’s decision to retain control of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
Obele, who is also a university lecturer and key stakeholder in the Port Harcourt community, expressed his concerns over the NNPC’s recent declaration that the refinery would not be privatised. According to him, this decision not only ignores the longstanding inefficiencies of the NNPC but also undermines the economic potential of the region and the broader national interest.
“This isn’t good news. Plans to privatise Warri and Kaduna refineries while keeping Port Harcourt under NNPC management are concerning, especially considering the company’s well-documented history of corruption and mismanagement,” he stated in an interview.
Obele argued that private sector participation would bring critical benefits such as efficiency, accountability, better host community engagement, and infrastructure development—outcomes that have been consistently lacking under NNPC’s oversight.
“Private firms have shown far more commitment to host communities. Take Indorama Petrochemical, for instance — it has made a positive impact in Eleme. The NNPC, on the other hand, has consistently failed to deliver on expectations, leading to persistent fuel scarcity, price hikes, and economic disruptions,” Obele noted.
Obele outlined several advantages of handing over the Port Harcourt refinery to private investors, including:
Capital injection and modernisation
Efficient resource management
Job creation for the local community
Improved transparency and corporate governance
Reduced corruption and bureaucratic bottlenecks
Increased competitiveness in the oil sector
He appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to intervene in the matter by mandating the privatisation of the facility in the interest of transparency and economic advancement.
“The local community is prepared to welcome a private company with open arms. We guarantee full cooperation and a peaceful environment for operations,” he emphasized.
Last week, NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, reaffirmed that the Port Harcourt refinery would remain under the corporation’s control. Speaking at a town hall meeting at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, Ojulari explained that technical and financial assessments suggested that selling the refinery would “erode value” and that “more advanced technical partnerships” were necessary to complete the ongoing rehabilitation project.
He also acknowledged that a previous decision to resume operations before the full rehabilitation was completed was “ill-informed and sub-commercial.”
The statement followed speculation after Ojulari told Bloomberg at the 2025 OPEC Seminar in Vienna that “all options are on the table” regarding Nigeria’s refineries, sparking public hope that privatisation was under consideration.
The Port Harcourt refinery, which was scheduled to undergo a one-month shutdown for maintenance starting May 24, 2025, remains non-operational over two months later, raising doubts about its viability.
In a recent comment, Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, cast doubt on the future of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, stating they may never operate efficiently again despite over $18 billion in investment.
With the Nigerian economy under pressure and petroleum infrastructure crumbling, the call for reform in the downstream sector continues to grow louder. PETROAN’s Joseph Obele believes the future of Port Harcourt — and Nigeria’s energy independence — lies in the hands of the private sector, not government bureaucracy.