Iledare cautions against hasty refinery sale

|By Adejumo Adekunle-

-Urges Tinubu to adopt strategic, transparent reforms
-Says inefficiency, not ownership, is Nigeria’s refinery problem

A Professor Emeritus of Petroleum Economics, Wumi Iledare, has warned the Federal Government against rushing into the sale of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna.

He advised President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to consider a more strategic and transparent path that aligns with the national interest and safeguards the country’s energy future.

Iledare issued the warning in a statement over the weekend, following recent remarks by the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari. Ojulari, in an interview with Bloomberg, had hinted at a possible sale of the country’s refineries once ongoing plant reviews are completed.

Reacting, Iledare stressed that the root of the problem is not ownership, but persistent inefficiency.

“Ownership isn’t the core issue — inefficiency is,” he said, cautioning that selling the refineries without addressing deep-seated governance issues could backfire and jeopardize the country’s energy security.

He argued that blindly pursuing privatisation without structural reforms could repeat the mistakes of the past.

“Selling the refineries without tackling systemic governance failures could repeat past mistakes and threaten energy security,” he noted.

To avoid such pitfalls, Iledare proposed hybrid approaches such as public-private partnerships and performance-based concessions that align with the commercial principles outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.

“Privatisation must not become monopoly or elite capture,” he warned. “The real goal is to unlock value and reposition the downstream sector for sustainable growth.”

His remarks come amid NNPCL’s announcement in May 2025 that the Port Harcourt refinery had been shut down for maintenance and a review process. The Warri and Kaduna refineries, despite substantial financial investments for rehabilitation, remain dormant.