MAN calls for refineries’ privatisation after $3bn futile repairs

• The refineries would be functional if sold to private investors-Ajayi-Kadir

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, (MAN) has said the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries are a drain on the country’s economy, calling on the Federal Government to sell the facilities.

The Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, stated that the refineries were gulping government resources with no result to show about $3bn has been spent to revive the refineries, but all to no avail.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television, Director General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, says he sees the price of fuel coming down to N800 with the modalities being put in place by Dangote Refineries.

Recall, Dangote recently slashed its ex-depot price for Premium Motor Spirit, (PMS), also known as petrol, to N840 per litre and the reduction represents a N40 decrease from the previous rate of N880 per litre.

“You cannot blame anyone for producing and ensuring effective delivery,” he said.

When asked from a manufacturer’s point of view on what he sees about the long-term effect, he added, “So if I may use what the Gen Z is called ‘Joy is coming’, that’s what I see.

“The long-term is going to be better. I see the price coming down to 800 and that’s what manufacturers want.

“I just told you now that last year, we spent as much as 1.1 trillion in terms of providing alternatives, apart from the fact that even the quality of the products is not guaranteed.

“So, in the near future, I continue to see continued reduction in the price of diesel.

“I also see a situation where other players will be encouraged to come into the field, because that is what it takes. I don’t think that we should use sentiment to dissuade any investor from improving the life and well being of the people.

“You can imagine how many small and medium scale enterprises have had to close because they do not have access to electricity.

“We enjoyed only about 18 hours of supply last year, and there were at least three to four outages a day. It’s not good for production.

“But if you are able to have an adequate supply of diesel and of even CNG gas across the country, I mean, this is a major improvement in one of the areas that manufacturers have suffered.

“40% of our cost of production is in energy, and there has been intense inadequacy of this.

“So, I believe that there are better days coming, and we should continue to encourage more of Dangotes and for the government to even further incentivize Dangote so that we can completely crash the price as fuel scarcity should be a thing of the past.

“This is the only time that our oil, our endowment, in terms of oil, is now a blessing to us and not a cause. So, I believe that we should all give effective support, I mean, to this initiative,” he added.

Ajayi-Kadir said Nigeria is too big to be ‘pocketed’ by anyone because there are many resilient and hard-working Nigerians ready to make good of private business, and called on the government to partner with this set of people to run the economy.

According to him, “Those four refineries you are talking about are just a pure drain on the Nigerian economy, and it is not fair to the Nigerian people. We should have a situation where we can speak truth to ourselves and ensure that we encourage private sector investment.”

Ajayi-Kadir also argued that the refineries would be functional if sold to private investors, adding that this would also reduce fraud and opacity.

DG MAN said “This is our natural endowment. We are the sixth-largest producer of crude oil in the world, yet we suffer. I can tell you that if you completely go private, it will be difficult for anybody to steal. It will be difficult for anybody to be unaccountable. It will be difficult for anyone to have a situation where there are continuous insinuations of massive fraud anywhere.

“Those four other refineries should be competitors with the Dangote refinery. We were told that one was working, but now we’ve been told that it is no longer working. The government should give it to people who would ensure that it works.”

This position of the manufacturers is coming on the heels of crude refiners and marketers also calling on the government to sell the refineries as scrap and use the proceeds to fund modular refineries, noting that the facilities are now a burden and liability to the government.