Obasanjo sings Buhari’s praise again, lauds President’s actualisation of private modular refinery in Niger Delta
In what appears to be a volte-face, former president Olusegun Obasanjo heaps praises on President Muhammadu Buhari for achieving huge success in an area where previous administrations, including his, could not make headway.
It would be recalled that Obasanjo had, last month, in a 13-page statement, expressed his disappointment in president Buhari – whom he supported during the 2015 presidential poll.
While speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Azikel Refinery, the first private modular refinery in the oil and gas-rich Niger Delta region, Obasanjo described as “commendable” the Buhari administration’s decision to award operational licences to 22 firms for the construction of modular refineries in the country.
According to Obasanjo, 18 of such licences were approved under his administration but that none of them was able to actualise it, unlike the present administration.
Obasanjo said, “I have been told that President Buhari and his government gave 22 licences and that Azikel Petroleum is the only license out of the 22 that is really actualised.
“Before then, we gave 18 and not one was actualised. They gave all manner of excuses, including insecurity and oil prices. But those excuses they gave are still there. But they were not genuine entrepreneurs. They were after collecting licences to get crude oil. And that is why in an occasion like this, we should pay special tribute to people like Eruani.
“I join you all in thanking President Buhari for giving four licences more than we gave. And he (Buhari) is lucky that he has a man like Eruani to be the only one to actualise.”
