Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for the immediate suspension and public scrutiny of the Technical Equity Partnership announced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited involving two Chinese firms, Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng Fuzhou Industrial Park Operation and Management Company Limited, describing the arrangement as a dangerous gamble with Nigeria’s economic future built on secrecy and questionable technical competence.
In a statement issued through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that independent assessments of the two companies indicated that neither possessed the technical depth, global reputation, or operational pedigree associated with the rehabilitation and management of complex crude oil refineries of the scale and condition of the Port Harcourt and Warri facilities.
He said Sanjiang Chemical, while a legitimate petrochemical company, primarily specialized in surfactants, ethylene oxide, methanol-to-olefins, and light hydrocarbon processing rather than crude oil refining, and that no publicly available evidence anywhere in the world showed that the company had ever built, operated, or managed a full-scale crude oil refinery of comparable magnitude and complexity.
On Xingcheng, he alleged that available corporate and industry records showed no verifiable experience in petroleum engineering, refinery operations, or hydrocarbon processing, describing the company as essentially an industrial park and infrastructure management firm. He questioned why globally established refinery engineering companies had been bypassed in favor of entities whose backgrounds raised more questions than confidence.
Atiku also cited what he described as troubling financial indicators surrounding Sanjiang Chemical, including reports of declining revenues, shrinking profitability, and significant short-term debt exposure, asking how a company battling financial compression in its own operations intended to shoulder the burden of reviving two of Africa’s most troubled refineries.
However, the Nigeria Citizens Watch for Good Governance took a contrasting position, describing the NNPC-China MOU as a strategic masterstroke for energy security and economic renewal. The group’s chairman, Collins Eshiofeh, commended NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Bayo Ojulari for conducting six months of rigorous engagement before situating the partnership, arguing that the Chinese partners were tested and trusted global players and that the approach represented a structural break from past failed rehabilitation templates rather than a repetition of them.
