The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has cast serious doubt on the prospect of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna ever returning to full operation, despite years of rehabilitation efforts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

Speaking in Lagos on Thursday during a visit by members of the Global CEO Africa network from Lagos Business School, Dangote said the refineries—currently managed by NNPC—have collectively consumed up to $18 billion without delivering results.

Dangote’s comments come amid growing scrutiny of Nigeria’s downstream oil sector.

He contrasted the state-owned plants with his privately built Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, which has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

He said over 50% of the refinery’s output is now dedicated to Premium Motor Spirit significantly higher than the 22% allocation typical of government-run refineries.

Dangote recounted that he and his team were forced to return the refineries to President Umar Musa Yar’Adua just months after former President Olusegun Obasanjo left office in 2007. He explained that officials managing the refineries at the time had convinced Yar’Adua that Obasanjo sold the assets below their true value as a farewell favour to him.

“The refineries that we bought before, which were owned by Nigeria, were doing about 22 per cent of PMS. We bought the refineries in January 2007. Then we had to return them to the government because there was a change of government.

“And the managing director at that time convinced Yar’adua that the refineries would work. They said they just gave them to us as a parting gift or so. And as of today, they have spent about $18bn on those refineries, and they are still not working. And I don’t think, and I doubt very much if they will work,” he said.

Dangote stressed that rehabilitating the state-owned refineries was akin to upgrading a 40-year-old car in a world where technology has significantly advanced, highlighting the impracticality of reviving such outdated infrastructure.

“The turnaround maintenance) is like you trying to modernise a car that was built 40 years ago, when technology and everything have changed. Even if you change the engine, the body will not be able to take the shock of that new technology engine,” he stated.

Despite Billions Spent, Nigeria’s Refineries Remain Idle.

The Federal Government has continued to pour resources into reviving Nigeria’s ailing state-owned refineries, despite their prolonged inactivity.

It is reported that $1.4 billion was approved in 2021 for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery, alongside $897 million for the Warri refinery and $586 million for the Kaduna facility.

In the same year, N100 billion was reportedly spent on refinery rehabilitation, with an average monthly expenditure of N8.33 billion.

Additionally, between 2013 and 2017, $396.33 million was allocated for Turnaround Maintenance.

Yet, despite these substantial investments, the refineries remain unproductive.

Efforts to obtain a comment from the Nigerian NNPC were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.