Refineries’ sale to begin after steering committee meeting

Warri Refinery

The steering committee for sale of the nation’s four refineries chaired by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke, needs to meet to provide the guidelines for the transaction before the process can begin, the Bureau of Public Enterprises has said.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, the Head, Public Communications, BPE, Mr. Chigbo Anichebe, said the workers would also be consulted in the process leading to the sale of the refineries.

He said, “The privatisation process has not commenced. It will only commence after the steering committee chaired by the Minister of Petroleum Resources meets to provide the broad guidelines for the transaction.

“Labour and their unions are critical stakeholders in the privatisation process and their buy in will be sought before the commencement of the process.

“This is in line with what the Federal Government did in the power sector privatisation by actively engaging labour. All the concerns of the labour unions will be looked into and amicably resolved to ensure the success of the privatisation process.”

The Federal Government had on Friday announced the constitution of the steering committee, which has the ministers of Finance, Power, Labour and Productivity, National Planning, Mines and Steel Development and Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation.

Other members of the committee are the Chairman, Extractive Sub-committee, National Council on Privatisation; Special Adviser to the Vice-President on the 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.

The terms of reference of the committee include advising the NCP on the best way to privatise the refineries in a manner that will enhance the gains of the privatisation programme; and reviewing the diagnostic reports and recommendations of the transaction advisors.

Others are to propose modalities and make recommendations to the NCP on labour matters to ensure the successful privatisation of the refineries; oversee the process and make recommendations to the NCP; and to carry out any other ancillary activities relevant to the attainment of the goals of the Federal Government in the reforms and privatisation of the refineries.