President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has stated that Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna may never function properly again, despite an estimated $18 billion spent on their rehabilitation.

Dangote made this known while hosting members of Global CEO Africa during a visit to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

He explained that the decision to build his 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery came after the late President Umar Yar’Adua’s government declined to sell the failing refineries to him.

“The refineries we bought in January 2007 were producing only about 22% of PMS. We eventually returned them after a change in government. The then managing director convinced President Yar’Adua that the refineries could be fixed,” Dangote said.
“Since then, about $18 billion has been spent, yet they still don't work. Honestly, I doubt they ever will.”

He likened the effort to modernize the outdated refineries to “trying to upgrade a 40-year-old car with new engine technology the body simply can't handle it.”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had previously voiced similar concerns, noting that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was aware it could not effectively operate the refineries. Obasanjo revealed that Dangote and other investors had paid $750 million to acquire the refineries before the deal was canceled by Yar’Adua.

Obasanjo recounted: “I told Yar’Adua, ‘NNPC can’t do this.’ He disagreed, and the refineries remained with the government. I warned him that one day those refineries wouldn’t even sell as scrap for $200 million and that’s exactly where we are.”

He further criticized the corruption within NNPC, stating: “In any civilized society, those responsible should be in jail.”

Obasanjo added that over $2 billion has been squandered since, yet the refineries remain non-functional. “If anyone claims the refineries are working, why are they turning to Aliko Dangote now? Aliko will not only make his refinery work—he’ll make it deliver,” he said.