The candidate of the Peoples D e m o c r a t i c Party (PDP) for the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, has commended the Federal Government for National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a limited liability company even though he claimed it was his idea. The corporation now known as Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is fully commercialized.

Unveiling the NNPC Limited in Abuja on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari, said the body would operate without relying on government funding and be free from institutional regulations. Atiku on his verified Facebook page yesterday said the government’s decision was part of his proposal in 2018 to reform the petroleum sector but lamented that he was “denigrated” by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The former Vice President said: “I had in 2018 made public my plans to reform the NNPC to make it more profitable, transparent, and efficient. The APCled government denigrated me for my patriotic vision.

But today, I am happy to note that the same government has taken a tentative step along the lines of the suggestions that I had made.” However, he said he would continue with the process of an overhaul of the company if elected. He said: “It is a step in the right direction, but we are still far from what I had envisaged. I hope I’ll have the opportunity to complete the process of turning the NNPC into a genuinely world-class company in the mold of the NLNG, Aramco of Saudi Arabia, and Petrobras of Brazil, where Nigerians and institutions will invest in.”(New Telegraph)