Paul Ibe, spokesperson for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has clarified that remarks attributed to Atiku about selling the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to friends were “a joke taken too far.”
Speaking on Trust TV on Sunday, Ibe addressed questions comparing Atiku’s position on the petroleum sector with policies of the Bola Tinubu administration. He rejected suggestions that Atiku intended to sell the NNPC to personal associates.
“Let me correct you please. That interview was a banter between His Excellency Atiku Abubakar and the reporter, and he made that joke, and that was mischief taken too far about selling it to his friends,” Ibe said. He emphasized that the key point should be the disposal of non-performing assets in the sector, not the misinterpreted joke.
Ibe argued that successive governments have wasted resources maintaining non-performing oil assets, and that privatisation remains the more sustainable option. “None of the refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Warri, all over the place, are working, yet people are being paid salaries for doing nothing,” he said. “Government has no business doing business. Government should create an enabling environment for business.”
The comments come amid Atiku’s longstanding advocacy for privatising the NNPC. During the lead-up to the 2019 presidential election, he stated his commitment to privatise the corporation, asserting it would be done for the benefit of Nigerians, not personal enrichment.
“Atiku would sell NNPC to Nigerians for the development of the country, not to his friends,” Ibe reiterated, emphasizing that previous reports suggesting otherwise were inaccurate.
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