Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the Federal Government to halt the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s refinery partnership arrangement with two Chinese firms, describing the deal as lacking transparency and raising concerns over the technical capacity of the companies involved.
In a statement released on Friday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of attempting to hand over Nigeria’s vital oil infrastructure through what he termed questionable agreements presented as a “Technical Equity Partnership.”
The former Vice President criticised the recently announced Memorandum of Understanding between NNPC Ltd. and the Chinese firms, Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd, concerning the rehabilitation and management of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
According to Atiku, it was “both shocking and insulting” that after the reported expenditure of more than $2.5 billion on refinery rehabilitation, Nigerians were being asked to embrace “another experiment built on secrecy and questionable competence.”
He maintained that independent checks on the two Chinese firms allegedly revealed that neither company possesses the technical expertise or global track record expected for handling large-scale crude oil refinery operations.
Atiku stated that although Sanjiang Chemical is recognised as a petrochemical company, its operations are mainly focused on surfactants, ethylene oxide, methanol-to-olefins, and light hydrocarbon processing rather than crude oil refining.
“There is no publicly available evidence anywhere in the world showing that Sanjiang has ever built, operated, or managed a full-scale crude oil refinery of the magnitude and complexity of Port Harcourt or Warri refineries,” Atiku stated.
He further alleged that Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd lacks any verifiable background in refinery management, petroleum engineering, or hydrocarbon processing.
“By every available corporate and industry record, Xingcheng is essentially an industrial park and infrastructure management company, the equivalent of handing over a hospital’s intensive care unit to a real estate developer simply because they can construct buildings,” he said.
The former Vice President questioned why the Federal Government and NNPC reportedly ignored internationally established refinery engineering and EPC companies in favour of firms whose profiles, according to him, “raise more questions than confidence.”
He warned that the current administration could plunge the country’s refineries into “another expensive black hole of failed promises, reckless experimentation, and opaque transactions.”
Atiku also expressed concern over the financial condition of Sanjiang Chemical, alleging that reports suggest the company is struggling with declining earnings, reduced profitability and liquidity challenges despite its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
“This raises a fundamental question: if a company is already battling financial compression and liquidity concerns in its own operations, how exactly does it intend to shoulder the burden of reviving two of Africa’s most troubled refineries?” he queried.
The former Vice President described the arrangement as part of what he called a broader pattern of opaque public sector financing and alleged corruption under the Tinubu administration.
“The era where NNPC signs opaque agreements abroad and expects Nigerians to clap blindly is over. National assets are not toys for bureaucratic experimentation. The Port Harcourt and Warri refineries are too strategic to be surrendered to uncertainty, obscurity, and corporate guesswork,” he stated.
Atiku consequently called for the immediate release of the full details of the MoU, a transparent technical due diligence report on both Chinese firms, disclosure of Nigeria’s financial obligations under the agreement, and a legislative investigation into past refinery rehabilitation spending.
The statement added that Nigerians would hold accountable any officials linked to arrangements capable of jeopardising the country’s energy security and economic future.
