Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described an open invitation by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to tour the newly revived Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries as disrespectful.
The spokesperson to Obasanjo, Kehinde Akinyemi, made this known on Friday.
The NNPCL had invited the ex-president to the revamped facilities after he accused the state-owned oil firm of rejecting Aliko Dangote’s $750 million offer to manage the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries. Obasanjo had faulted NNPCL for rejecting Dangote’s offer despite its inability to manage the plants.
Reacting to NNPCL’s invite, Obasanjo said the pattern of the invitation was a clear disrespect to his office as a former president of Nigeria. According to him, NNPCL had not deemed it fit to formally invite him for the tour.
“Is that the right way to invite a former president of the country? Who says Baba has even seen the statement or read the news? It is a total disrespect for the office of the former president.
“Ask the NNPCL that as of January 2, have they written to him? Is there any official letter addressed to him, inviting him to the refinery?
“It is an absolute insult, and the former president cannot dignify such with a response,” Obasanjo’s aide stated.
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