We have no mandate to privatise refineries – Kachikwu

THE Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said on Thursday that the corporation did not have the mandate of President Muhammed Buhari to privatise the three functional refineries in Nigeria.

Kachikwu reiterated that the Federal Government had no plan to sell the nation’s refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri, adding that President Buhari only endorsed investing in the facilities.

The minister spoke at the official presentation of the ISO 9001:2008 Certificate to the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Eleme LGA, Rivers State.

Represented by the Chief Operating Officer of the refineries, Mr. Anibor Kragha, the minister said, “We have the mandate to deliver value and money to Nigeria.

“So, we will not privatise our refineries. Rather, we have the approval to seek funding that will take us to a higher level in production.”

The House of Representatives had stopped a move to privatise the three refineries by NNPC, pointing at a gross violation of the Bureau of Public Enterprises Act Section11, 2009.

Meanwhile, receiving the award in Port Harcourt, The minister thanked PHRC for being outstanding among the three refineries in the country.

Kachikwu said the Port Harcourt refining company had placed Nigerian refineries in the world class standard.

He stated that the award was well deserved, stating that PHRC had always performed in the effort to change the fortune of the nation.