Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has reiterated calls for the privatisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
Lifestyle Nigeria reports that Atiku Spoke during an exclusive interview with Sulaiman aledeh on News Central TV.
The former vice-president said the privatisation of the NNPC would help optimise the oil company, adding that “it is not the duty of the government to start managing the oil and gas sector”.
He said, “You can compare the nigeria LNG project which we are in partnership with the private sector and see the returns we get compared with the NNPC that is solely run by the government.
“First of all, there’s red tape. There’s a lot of corruption there. Definitely, it is better to privatise.
“Before the election, I advocated the privatisation of the NNPC. They accused me of wanting to give it to my friends, only for them now to turn around to say they are privatising.
”Of course, they have set up the structures, but they have not done the actual privatisation because they have not gone to the stock market. Up till now, all the shares are being held by the NNPC, and nobody has any shares there.
“So, in theory, they have announced that they are privatising, but that has not been implemented.”
The NNPC transitioned to a limited liability company under the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
The federal government recently commercialised NNPC in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.