Nigerians Revisit Atiku’s Plan To Sell NNPC (Read Reactions)

The Nigeria Twitter space is agog again over plans by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Atiku, a former Vice President of Nigeria, had as part of his campaign manifesto promised to “sell” 90% of the NNPC if elected president in the forthcoming general elections and allow government keep only 10% shares in the cooperation.

The PDP presidential candidate restated this on Wednesday at the Kaduna Trade Fair Complex where he held a town hall meeting with ward, local government and state leaders of the opposition party in Kaduna State.

Atiku argued that it would be in Nigeria’s best interest to sell the NNPC as the cooperation has allegedly failed to serve the purpose for which it was established in 1977.

The presidential candidate’s reaffirmation sparked reactions again as Nigerians took to twitter to air differing views of the plan.

Below are some of the reactions:

@kakra68: “The way Atiku is eager to sell NNPC.. It’s like the man has already collected advance payment”.

@Iam_Olamma: “Privatization of #NNPC is one of the major reasons I and many others are voting for @atiku . It is long overdue!”

@yesmylo:”Civil Servant or Public Servant should think twice before casting your VOTE. One, at least 70% of ALLOCATION comes from NNPC. IF eventually NNPC sold to their friends as Promised, definitely your SALARY has been sold off, your JOB has been sold off. Think deeply.”

@ObiMomoh: “He repeated it in Kaduna again “i will sell NNPC to you”! How many of you have money to buy NNPC. Obviously to his friends and foreigners, he will sell Nigeria’s jobs again like he did in the past. Vote wisely vote PMB/PYO On Saturday. #Nextlevel”

@TSkadau: “As much as we all want the NNPC to be run properly, & no longer be signposted by fraud /graft, privatising it, is a NO. It should b restructured to b an entity listed on the NSE, out of the control of govt, under legislation, backed by law, a complete biz entity we have stakes in.”

@afolabiodun: “Breaking News: If you work in NNPC, have relations that works in NNPC, and you depend on them for survival or better still you don’t want them to become sudden pensioners that would suffer same fate Ex-NITEL staffs suffered before PMB paid their pensions; get your PVC, vote PMB!”

@LetMyNameBe: All the people shouting about #NNPC being sold are thinking like poor people. Has NNPC benefitted us as a country?. Was #NITEL not going to die anyway? Crab mentality won’t kill us in this country. Sell NNPC, it won’t kill us”

@fimiletoks: “The are few Multinational interest waiting in the wings to buy NNPC. There is a pact between them and Atikuloot and they have been financing his election directly and indirectly. This is why he keeps repeating the statement so that he can reinforce the agreement.”

@BonifaceEzea: “Privatization of NNPC is even the reason my friends and I will vote him. NNPC has been run with public funds, funny enough proceeds divert to private pockets”

@iamthommie: “People are saying @atiku wants to sell NNPC to his friends (the rich). As an economist, I fully support privatization for efficiency. Bt those that said he is selling to d rich, can you afford it? Was it the poor that acquired Glo, 9mobile? Even in USA, only d rich buy big firms.”