President Jonathan Approves Sales Of Nigerian Refineries

The stage is now set for the privatisation of the nation's four refineries by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
This followed by President Goodluck Jonathan's appointment, yesterday, of a steering committee on the privatisation process.
At the head of the committee is the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The members are the Minister of Finance/CME, Minister of Power, Minister of Labour, Minister of National Planning , Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Minister of Justice/AGF and Chairman of the Extractive Sub-Committee of the NCP.
Other members are the SA to the Vice President on Economy, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Director General of BPE, Group Executive Director (Refineries), NNPC, and Director (Oil and Gas), BPE -Secretary.
The Head, Public Communications of BPE, Chigbo Anichebe, said in a statement that the privatisation is in furtherance of the economic reform programme of the Jonathan administration.
According to him, the government's Transformation Agenda seeks to "catalyse and provide an enabling environment for the private sector to be the drivers of economic growth in the country."
The four refineries are Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC) I ; Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC) II; Kaduna Refining & Petrochemical Company Limited (KRPC) ; and Warri Refining & Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC).
The Steering Committee will advise the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) on the best way to privatise the refineries in a manner that would enhance the gains of the privatisation programme of the Federal Government.
It will also review the diagnostic reports and recommendations of the transaction advisors and make recommendations to the NCP, propose modalities and make recommendations to NCP on labour matters to ensure the successful privatisation of the refineries.
The Director General of the BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, said: "The directives we have is to conduct the privatisation process transparently, complying with due process and international best practice.
"We are expected to improve on the high standards set in the power sector transaction, which has received accolades all over the world as being very transparent."
Further details on the transaction structure and time table will be announced after the meeting of the Steering Committee.