El-Rufai: Let’s replace NNPC and give it a funeral

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, has called for the privatisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Speaking on Monday at the 7th edition of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism lecture series, el-Rufai said that the corporation had been used as a conduit pipe for draining the resources of the country.

“This country can no longer afford to maintain an NNPC that arrogantly, unlawfully and unconstitutionally spends an unhealthy proportion of national oil earnings on itself,” he said.

“We should replace the NNPC with brand new organisations that are fit for purpose: – among others – a commercialised and corporatised national oil company and new industry regulators.

“This new national oil company should be capitalised once and for all, and then freed to fend for itself like other national oil companies do, seeking its financing independently from the financial markets and paying due taxes and royalties.

“The corruption and nonchalance that have hobbled the NNPC are symptoms that its best days are over. We should give it a deserved funeral so that a new institution, active and nimble, can promptly replace it.

“NNPC’s subsidiaries and associated companies can be reviewed, restructured and privatised or commercialised as appropriate consistent with national interest and objectives.”