Business
Jonathan Shuns House Of Reps, Approves Sale Of 4 Refineries
Credit: NNPC Home page
The House of Representatives as well as oil workers had kicked against the sale of the four oil refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt to private investors in the first quarter of 2014. Read the House Report
But Fridays, approval in a memo signed by Chigbo Anichebe, Head, Public Communications, Bureau of Public Enterprises ]BPE] on Friday [December 20] shows the President has approved the sale of the refineries..
Workers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation as well as the oil and gas workers had protested against the sale, even threatened to embark on a nationwide if government went ahead with the plans.. READ and the protest HERE
Nigerians will have to brace-up for January as the Presidency has gone ahead against the yearnings of the oil workers and the national assembly.
The memo issued reads as follows:
In furtherance of the economic reform programme of his administration, President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the commencement of the privatization of the nation’s four refineries by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). This is in keeping the Transformation Agenda, which seeks to catalyze and provide an enabling environment for the private sector to be the drivers of economic growth in the country.
The four refineries are:
1. Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC) I ;
2. Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC) II;
3. Kaduna Refining & Petrochemical Company Limited (KRPC) ; and
4. Warri Refining & Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC)
The President has also approved the constitution of a Steering Committee on the privatization process that involves all relevant stakeholder
ministries and agencies.
The Steering Committee which is chaired by the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Resources has the following members:
1) Hon. Minister of Finance/CME – Member
2) Hon. Minister of Power – Member
3) Hon. Minister of Labour – Member
4) Hon. Minister of National Planning – Member
5) Hon. Minister of Mines and Steel Development – Member
6) Hon. Minister of Justice/AGF – Member
7) Chairman of the Extractive Sub Committee of the NCP – Member
8) SA to the Vice President on Economy – Member
9) Group Managing Director of NNPC – Member
10) Director General of BPE – Member
11) Group Executive Director (Refineries), NNPC – Member
12) MDs of Refineries Scheduled for Privatization – Members
13) Director (Oil and Gas), BPE – Secretary
The Steering Committee’s Terms of Reference will include among others the following:
(1) Advise the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) on the best way to privatize the refineries in a manner that would enhance the gains of the privatization programme of the FGN;
(2) Review the diagnostic reports and recommendations of the transaction advisors and make recommendations to the NCP;
(3) Propose modalities and make recommendations to NCP on labour matters to ensure the successful privatization of the refineries;
(4) Generally oversee the process and make recommendations to NCP for the successful privatization of the refineries; and
(5) Carry out any other ancillary activities relevant to the attainment of the goals of the Federal Government in the reforms and privatization of the nation’s refineries.
According to the Director General of the BPE, Benjamin Dikki, “the directives we have is to conduct the privatization process
transparently, complying with due process and international best practice. We are expected to improve on the high standards set in the
power sector transaction, which has received accolades all over the world as being very transparent.”
He added that further details on the transaction structure and time table will be announced after the meeting of the Steering Committee.
