Privatisation of Refineries on Course, Says Bpe

Plans to privatise Nigeria’s troubled four refineries next year are on course, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said yesterday.

Mr Chigbo Anichebe, the Bureau’s Head, Public Communications, described the refineries’ privatisation as part of oil sector’s reforms.

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, hinted of the plan to privatise the refineries in Kaduna, Warri and two in Port Harcourt, last week in an interview with Bloomberg TV Africa in London.

Since then, government officials including Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroluem Corporation (NNPC) Andrew Yakubu had kept mum on the plan.

But Anichebe said yesterday that the plan is on course.

“We are working with the NNPC and Ministry of Petroleum Resources on the privatisation of the four refineries.

“We are just in the preliminary discussion with them and very soon, we will make public the work plan for the privatisation processes, including the engagement of advisers to advise us on the transaction.

“Once the work plan is fine-tuned, hopefully by the end of the year or early January next year, the work plan as well as the schedule will be unveiled to all stakeholders, including the media,’’ he said.

Anichebe said that the privatisation would be handled in line with the usual strategy of the bureau, which was to sell a certain percentage of shares and reserve a certain percentage for the workers, host communities and Nigerians at large.

He urged Nigerians not to be apprehensive about the refineries’ sale because only capable and visionary investors would be considered in the privatisation process.

“People should not be edgy about this transaction because we have done this over and...