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From Idu Jude, Abuja
A civil society organization (CSO) under the aegis of the Movement for Anti-Corruption, Integrity, and Transparency Initiative, has described the recent statement by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo against state-owned refineries and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), as a distraction, stating that the newly formed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), should be encouraged to function effectively.
The CSO stated this in a statement jointly signed by its national president, Goodway Jackson, and secretary general, Mohammed Kuda on Sunday.
Recall that rights activist, Femi Falana had in a statement he issued on Friday, claimed the Port Harcourt refinery was sold by Obasanjo to a consortium, however, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, having found out that the deal was not in the best interest of the country, reversed it. According to Falana, a 51 percent stake in the Port Harcourt Refinery was sold for $561 million, and another 51 percent of Kaduna Refinery was also sold for $160 million on May 28, 2007.
The CSO quoted Falana’s reaction to the former president’s outbursts where he said: “Former President Obasanjo’s recent outburst on state refineries may not be because he means well for the the nation’s refineries but due to an age-long grudge he holds against NNPCL soon after he left office as president.”
