Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that those benefiting from the lucrative business of fuel importation will make every effort to frustrate Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Obasanjo described Dangote Refinery as something that should encourage both Nigerians and non-Nigerians.
He stated this in the wake of allegations by the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, that some ‘mafias’ were making efforts to frustrate the $20bn refinery.
It was gathered on Monday that the multi-billion dollar refinery and other domestic refineries had yet to purchase crude oil in naira based on the directive of President Bola Tinubu to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Speaking during an interview with Financial Times, Obasanjo opined that the cabals benefitting from oil importation do not want to let go of their source of living.
He said, “Aliko’s investment in a refinery, if it goes well, should encourage both Nigerians and non-Nigerians to invest in Nigeria.
“If those who are selling or supplying refined products for Nigeria feel that they will lose the lucrative opportunity, they will also make every effort to get him frustrated.”
Speaking further, the former nation’s leader disclosed that Nigeria made a deadly mistake by putting all its eggs in what he called one basket of oil, ignoring gas and agriculture.
“I believe we made a very, very deadly mistake. We put all our eggs in one basket of oil. We even ignored gas. We were flaring gas, which is a very important commodity
“We ignored agriculture, which should have been the centrepiece of our economic development,” he said.
He recalled how he persuaded Shell to run the country’s refineries but the International Oil Company refused, saying there was too much corruption in the sector.
“When I was President, I invited Shell and I said, look, come and take equity participation and run our refineries for us. They refused. They said our refineries have not been well maintained.
“We have brought amateurs rather than bringing professionals. They said there’s too much corruption with the way our refinery is run and maintained. And they didn’t want to get involved in such a mess,” he explained.
