Atiku Commends Commercialisation of NNPC

•Says APC denigrated him when he broached the idea

Chuks Okocha

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has commended the commercialisation of the NNPC.

He, however pointed out that he was denigrated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government when he broached the idea in 2018.

The Nigerian National Company Limited (NNPC) officially transited into a private entity that would be regulated in line with the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) on Tuesday. With the new structure, the NNPC Limited would no longer be required to remit funds money into the federation account for sharing by the three tiers of government monthly.

President Muhammadu Buhari officially unveiled the NNPC Limited and had declared that the new entity was henceforth free from institutional regulations.

In his reaction, Atiku commanded the processes but said, “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.

“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.

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