Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has described the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as a “mafia organisation.”
Mr Atiku said this on Wednesday during an interactive session with the business community in Lagos.
He also vowed to privatise the Corporation if elected as president, even if doing so would cost him his life.
He added that the Corporation would operate better if not managed by the government.
“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).
“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,” Atiku said.
Beyond privatising the oil corporation, Atiku believes his emergence in power will lead to prosperity.
“I am also not going to enrich members of my family but my friends.
“Are my friends not entitled to be enriched? As long as there is no element of corruption there,” he said.
