Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has, for years, been a cesspool of endemic corruption.
He said this while demanding that President Bola Tinubu immediately put in place measures to list NNPCL on the stock exchange in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election who spoke through Mr Paul Ibe, his Media Adviser, said, “The NNPCL is supposed to have been listed on the stock exchange in line with the Petroleum Industry Act. This would make the company more profitable and enhance transparency and corporate governance.
“Currently, the NNPCL claims to be private, but this is only a ruse to fool the feeble-minded because it remains the ATM of the Federal Government. Anything short of listing the NNPCL on the stock exchange is nothing but a cosmetic development.”
Atiku further stated that the NNPC Limited continues to provide a cover of political protection to the Tinubu government’s policy inconsistency on the payment of subsidy, raising questions about the independence that the PIA requires of the NNPC Limited as a private business concern.
He said previous arrangements and concessions had not worked because of a lack of transparency in the contract award process as well as the failure of the government to attract investors.
The former Vice President said for such a deal to succeed at all, the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and a credible technical partner like Standard and Poor’s must be part of the process.
Atiku added, “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo revealed recently that even Shell, one of the world’s wealthiest oil companies, rejected the offer to operate Nigeria’s refineries. This is because the NNPCL has, for years, been a cesspool of endemic corruption.
