Nigeria’s petroleum sector — the very engine meant to power the nation’s prosperity — has become the anchor holding it back. In a fiery critique by columnist Dele Sobowale, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is portrayed as a stubborn relic of corruption, mismanagement, and political interference that continues to sabotage Nigeria’s economic stability.
For decades, NNPCL has been the only national oil company in the world that functions like a permanent liability. Even when the company recently declared trillion-naira profits, the public was quickly reminded that behind the PR, very little has truly changed. Transparency is weak, governance is shaky, and the same old culture of inefficiency continues to haunt the sector.
A critical turning point came in 1999, when President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed himself Petroleum Minister — a move that concentrated absolute power in one office. Instead of reforming the system, the decision cemented a model that later administrations would repeat. Subsequent leaders, from Yar’Adua to Jonathan, appointed ministers who lacked execution and oversight, while Buhari resurrected the President-as-Minister formula with disastrous results. Under his watch, the sector became more technical, more fragile, and more mismanaged.
One of the darkest legacies of recent years was the controversial ₦8 trillion Crude-for-Loans deal, which tied up over 213,000 barrels of oil per day — almost 20% of national output — just to service debt. Despite budgeting for 2 million barrels per day, Nigeria consistently produced far less, creating massive budget deficits and fueling national debt. Meanwhile, Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) for refineries was abandoned, fuel importation skyrocketed, and subsidy payments ballooned beyond control.
Today’s government faces the consequences. President Tinubu’s early economic “shock therapy” dragged the nation to the ICU, and while indicators show mild recovery, NNPCL remains the elephant blocking the doorway. Despite Dangote Refinery’s partial supply of petrol, Nigeria still depends heavily on imports. Earlier promises of self-sufficiency were based on assumptions that were never realistic — especially since NNPCL failed to deliver the crude volumes Dangote needed.
The bigger scandal? NNPCL received $2.9 billion to revive the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, promising to resume fuel production by December 2024. Instead, December 2025 arrived with no production, no transparency, and no explanation. After months of false reports and misleading announcements, Nigerians learned the truth: the money vanished, the refineries remained dead, and the cycle of deception continued.
For over 30 years, since the Babangida era, no administration has succeeded in refining fuel domestically on a stable, consistent basis. Corruption thrives, accountability is nonexistent, and while ordinary Nigerians suffer, former NNPCL officials are jailed abroad — not in Nigeria — for laundering stolen funds. Ironically, stolen Nigerian oil money often ends up enriching foreign economies.
To make matters worse, Nigeria’s annual budgets have been built on a dangerous illusion: an inflated crude oil production target of 2 million barrels per day. Not once in over a decade has this target been achieved, yet year after year, governments recycle the same projections. NNPCL nods along, budgets are approved, and the nation pays the price through mounting debt and shrinking revenues.
Sobowale’s message is clear: until NNPCL undergoes real, structural reform — not PR makeovers or empty promises — Nigeria’s economy will remain stuck in reverse. The nation can produce recovery, growth, and stability, but not with an oil sector that behaves like a bottomless pit.
The question now is simple and urgent: When will NNPCL finally stop dragging Nigeria backward and start contributing to national progress?