The Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said this in an interview with
State House correspondents on Thursday.
It will be recalled that the Petroleum
and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria
Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers had threatened to embark on
an industrial action this month if the Federal Government refused to
drop the idea of selling the refineries.
In declaring the date for the
commencement of the strike, National President, PENGASSAN, Mr. Babatunde
Ogun, had said, “Our message is very clear; if between now and December
24, 2013, the government fails to cancel the planned privatisation of
the refineries, we will wait for the Yuletide period to come and then
mobilise between that time and the first week in January 2014; the
entire oil and gas workers in Nigeria will go on a total strike and shut
down the economy.”
But Abati on Thursday said there was no endorsement from President Goodluck Jonathan for the planned sale of the refineries.
He added that the Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, could not singlehandedly sell
any government property without the President’s approval.
“The Federal Government will not sell
the refineries. There is no authorisation for anybody to do so; there is
no presidential endorsement. Even the minister does not have the powers
to sell government’s property,” Abati declared.
The Head, Public Communication, Bureau
of Public Enterprises, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe, had said through a statement
in Abuja on December 20, 2013 that Jonathan had approved the
constitution of a steering committee for the sale of the nation’s four
refineries.
Anichebe had said the President also approved the commencement of the privatisation of the refineries.
The four refineries are the Port
Harcourt Refining Company Limited I; Port Harcourt Refining Company
Limited II; Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited; and the
Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited.
Anichebe had said, “In furtherance of
the economic reform programme of his administration, President Jonathan
has approved the commencement of the privatisation of the nation’s four
refineries by the BPE.
“This is in keeping with the
transformation agenda, which seeks to catalyse and provide an enabling
environment for the private sector to be the driver of economic growth
in the country.
“The President has also approved the
constitution of a steering committee on the privatisation process that
involves all relevant stakeholder ministries and agencies.”
The members of the steering committee,
which is chaired by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, are the
ministers of Finance, Power, Labour and Productivity, National Planning,
Mines and Steel Development and Justice.
Other members are the Chairman,
Extractive Sub-committee, National Council on Privatisation; Special
Adviser to the Vice-President on Economy; Group Managing Director,
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; Director-General, BPE; Group
Executive Director (Refineries), NNPC; Managing Directors of the
refineries and the Director (Oil and Gas), BPE, who will serve as the
secretary.
