by Toluwanimi Onakoya
“Atiku was right!” A large number of Nigerians on social media have begun tweeting after documents detailing the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company finances and returns made way to the public.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) operates as an oil company and offers a series of services including gas development, refining, petrochemical distribution, engineering, refinery services and commercial investments. The organisation has been in operation for close to 43 years now, yet it seems it continues to depreciate in value and quality.
Just two months ago, it was announced that the Federal Government would go ahead with its plans to shut down three of the country’s refineries due to their inability to function at optimal capacity despite loads of money being invested into the system. The just-released financial report corroborates this and goes further to show that the decadence goes deeper than many assumed, with the establishment making very little profit in various states.
The audited statements reveal figures of the 2018 Financial Year, and it quite shockingly unveils that the Kaduna Refinery made zero (0) revenue in but incurred a total cost of N64 Billion. Thus raising agitated conversations amongst Nigerians on the viability of the oil company as a whole.
https://twitter.com/IamTheIroko/status/1272294812369203201
Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections, Atiku Abubakar, had during his campaign revealed his plans to privatise the NNPC, drawing mixed reactions from Nigerians at the time. However, the release of this financial report is causing many to look back and laud Atiku as being accurate with his plans. Some have criticised those insulted who opposed Atiku when he made the propositions, claiming that he had made an intelligent proposal all along.
When Atiku said he was going to Privatise NNPC..
Shey they gathered and decided to burn him like a witch at the stakes..
We behave like we en-mass do not have small sense…— Anthony Ehilebo (@AnthonyEhilebo) June 15, 2020
https://twitter.com/PeterCross001/status/1272450051646853120
There were those that still remained firm in declaring that they do not believe in the privatisation of these refineries. They padded their stance saying private companies are just as corrupt and instead people in authority should be held accountable.
https://twitter.com/vinegar_thunder/status/1272453110179430402
The financial figures drew so much concern from many as it is clearly depicted that there is a huge problem in the system and some even vehemently called for it to be shut down altogether.
https://twitter.com/Ambrosia_Ijebu/status/1272261289734217730
That Kaduna Refinery financial spoilt my day. I’m still here thinking about it.
— Oluyomi Ojo (@OluyomiOjo) June 14, 2020
The large consensus seems to be that the NNPC and its subsidiaries are sinking money at a rate the country can’t afford and quick steps to produce a reformation needs to be made as these patterns paint a very worrisome future for the country’s economic development.
