WHY PRESIDENT YA'ARADUA CANCELED THE SALE OF PORT HARCOUT REFINERY TO DANGOTE Written by Femi Falana The National Council on Privatization (NCP), which is tasked with supervising the privatization and commercialization of state businesses, is chaired by the vice president by the Privatization and Commercialization Act. Vice President Atiku Abubakar was sidelined by President Olusegun Obasanjo, who took over the privatization of several state companies in flagrant violation of the Act. For US$561 million, President Obasanjo sold Bluestar Oil a 51 percent share in the Port Harcourt refinery on May 17, 2007.

Another transaction occurred on May 28, 2007, when President Obasanjo sold 51% of the Kaduna Refinery to Bluestar Oil for $160 million. Bluestar Oil was a group of three domestic companies, including Dangote Oil, Zenon Oil, and Transcop. Before the transaction, President Obasanjo had obtained large shares of Transcorp through "blind trust." Since the sales were completed in the final days of the Obasanjo Administration, many interest groups in the nation questioned their legality and morality.

On the grounds of conflict of interest and lack of due process, the two influential trade unions in the oil sector, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), opposed the privatization of the two refineries.

Additionally, they claimed that the country had been underpaid because the $516 million shares in the Port Harcourt refinery were worth $5 billion. Both unions went on a 4-day strike in June 2007 that nearly shut down the Nigerian economy because they believed the agreements were not in the country's best interests. The federal government's promise that the transactions would be thoroughly examined led to the cancellation of the strike.

Following the federal government's investigation, President Umaru Yar'adua canceled the alleged privatization of the refineries at Port Harcourt and Kaduna. The cancelation of the privatization was carried out in violation of both the letter and the spirit of the Privatization and Commercialization Act, and as a result, it was not challenged in any court.

In response to the increasing push for the privatization of the country's refineries, the Alliance on Surviving COVID and Beyond (ASCAB) officially urges NUPENG and PENGASSAN to step up their long-standing fight. It is recommended that those who are waiting for the refineries to be privatized in a way that is contrary to the interests of the country establish their refineries, similar to the Dangote Group. SAN Femi Falana,