The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has pledged to privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) if elected.
Atiku made the promise on Wednesday in Lagos during an interactive session with members of the business community.
The former Vice President said unless the state-owned oil corporation is privatised that progress will continue to elude the country.
Recalling his experience during his stint as the nation’s Vice President,he said;
“Let me go back to my experience. When we got into office, I walked up to my boss and said “Sir, there are two mafia organisations in government: one is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) while the other one is the National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA).
“I said unless we dismantle these mafia organisations, we cannot make progress. Let’s privatise them. The long and short of this is that I am committed to privatisation as I have said. I swear even if they are going to kill me, I will do it (privatise NNPC).”
He also recalled his encounter with a Nigerian professional living in the United States which further reinforced his stance on the necessity of privatising the NNPC.
“I asked a Nigerian professor based in America; I said ‘Prof, do you have ministry of petroleum in America?’ He said no.
“I said, ‘Do you have an organisation like NNPC over there?’ He said no. And America produces oil more than any country? He said yes. “So I asked him, ‘How do they do it in America?’ and he said taxation and I decided that I will go by taxation too” he added.