Obasanjo Warns of Sabotage Against Dangote Refinery

Obasanjo Warns of Sabotage Against Dangote Refinery: Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that those benefiting from the lucrative fuel importation business will try to frustrate the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. He stated this in response to allegations by Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, that some ‘mafias’ were trying to frustrate the $20bn refinery.

Obasanjo described the Dangote refinery as a project that should encourage investment in Nigeria, but noted that those who stand to lose from the refinery’s success will try to frustrate it at all cost.

Obasanjo also criticized Nigeria’s dependence on oil, saying the country made a “deadly mistake” by ignoring gas and agriculture. He recalled how he tried to persuade Shell to run Nigeria’s refineries, but they refused due to corruption in the sector.

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The former President also condemned the style adopted by President Bola Tinubu to remove fuel subsidies immediately after his inauguration, saying the present administration should have considered the hardship it could cause and how to ameliorate it.

In a related development, the Dangote refinery and other local refineries have yet to start buying crude oil from NNPC in naira as directed by President Tinubu. The Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria said letters have been written to NNPC, but there has been no response yet.

Obasanjo expressed concern over youths’ restiveness caused by hunger, unemployment, and hardship fearing that Nigeria might be sitting on a keg of gunpowder. He emphasized the need for investor confidence in Nigeria and a shift from a transactional economy to a transformational economy.