The Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) has called on the Federal Government to adopt a transparent, competitive and time-bound process for privatising Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, proposing majority private ownership and professional management.

The society’s National President, Engr. Bayo Olarewaju-Alo, made the recommendation at a press conference titled “Nigeria’s Moribund Refineries Need New Governance.”

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He argued that further public spending on refinery rehabilitation should give way to a new ownership structure that transfers operational control, investment responsibilities and execution risks to technically competent and financially credible private investors.

According to him, repeated rehabilitation efforts over more than two decades have failed to deliver reliable and commercially competitive production at the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries.

Olarewaju-Alo proposed a 22-month timeline for completing the privatisation process, covering asset assessment, investor prequalification, due diligence, competitive bidding, regulatory approvals and the transfer of ownership and operational control.

He said the government should divest a majority equity stake to credible private investors under enforceable obligations designed to ensure accountability and effective management.

“Further public rehabilitation expenditure should give way to a transparent divestment of majority equity holding to credible private investors, with enforceable obligations and professional operational control,” he said.

He added that the government could retain a minority, non-controlling stake to protect strategic public interests without remaining responsible for operational costs or investment shortfalls.

According to the NSChE president, the objective should extend beyond selling the assets to establishing a governance and investment framework capable of delivering reliable production, commercial discipline, national economic value and public accountability.

The society maintained that Nigeria had committed substantial public resources to restoring the three refineries without achieving sustained, reliable and competitive output.

It therefore called for binding investment commitments and production milestones to ensure that new owners meet clearly defined performance expectations.

The proposed framework should also include environmental safeguards, workforce protection, transparent allocation of existing liabilities and penalties for investors who fail to meet their contractual obligations.

The recommendations are aimed at addressing concerns over repeated rehabilitation spending and establishing a more commercially sustainable operating model for the country’s refining sector.