Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has demanded an independent audit of the business dealings between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Dangote Refinery, citing serious concerns about the transparency of the agreement.
In a statement, Ezekwesili expressed her alarm over the lack of clarity in the deal. “How can a project of such national significance be enveloped in this level of controversy, attracting negative attention from both local and international investors?” she questioned.
Reflecting on her time in government, Ezekwesili shared, “During my tenure, I frequently reminded NNPC leadership that they could not operate as though they were a separate entity, believing themselves to be ‘the goose that lays the golden egg’.”
She also highlighted her role in establishing the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), emphasizing, “We exceeded global minimum standards for transparency by embedding them into an Act that created NEITI as the regulatory body for transparency in the oil and minerals sector.”
Ezekwesili urged President Bola Tinubu to employ NEITI to conduct an independent audit of the Dangote refinery-NNPC transaction, insisting that “the public deserves to know the true state of affairs.”
The controversy erupted when Dangote revealed that NNPCL’s equity in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery was capped at 7.2%, contrary to the widely speculated 20%. NNPC confirmed this, stating it had chosen not to invest further in the refinery.