Atiku Says He Had Plans To Reform NNPC In 2018 

“I am happy to note that the same government has taken a tentative step along the lines of the suggestions that I had made. It is a step in the right direction, but we are still far from what I had envisaged,” Abubakar said. 

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar claims he had plans to overhaul the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in 2018.

Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement of NNPC Limited in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act, Atiku made this statement (PIA).

The former vice president alleged in a series of tweets on Wednesday that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government thwarted his ambitions.

Prior to the 2019 elections, he quit the APC in 2017.

Atiku promised to privatize NNPC if elected president of Nigeria in 2019 during the height of the presidential campaign.

He stated that, like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he would de-regulate the NNPC and sell it to Nigerians.

“I had in 2018 made public my plans to reform the NNPC to make it more profitable, transparent, and efficient. The APC-led government denigrated me for my patriotic vision,” he tweeted. 

Despite being laudable, he claimed that the company’s reorganization fell short of his expectations for it.

“But today, I am happy to note that the same government has taken a tentative step along the lines of the suggestions that I had made. It is a step in the right direction, but we are still far from what I had envisaged,” Abubakar said. 

“I hope I’ll have the opportunity to complete the process of turning the NNPC into a genuinely world-class company in the mold of NLNG, Aramco of Saudi Arabia, and Petrobras of Brazil, where Nigerians and institutions will invest in.”