THE African Democratic Congress (ADC) has raised alarm over what it described as a plot by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), warning that such a move would amount to “selling off the nation’s collective wealth.”
News Point Nigeria reports that the allegation was made on Wednesday during a press conference in Abuja to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary, where the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, accused the federal government of secretly working to amend key provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in order to facilitate the sale of NNPCL assets.
Abdullahi claimed that the government’s plan was not in the interest of Nigerians but part of a deliberate scheme to transfer the nation’s most lucrative oil assets into the hands of private cronies.
“We are convinced that this action forms part of a deliberate and calculated effort to hollow out NNPCL, dismantle institutional checks and balances, and pave the way for the fire-sale of Nigeria’s most valuable national assets to private, politically-connected interests at the expense of 200 million Nigerians,” Abdullahi said.
“They represent not reform, but regression and they must be rejected.”
The ADC spokesperson insisted that selling off NNPCL’s equity in high-performing joint ventures would amount to undermining Nigeria’s energy sovereignty, destabilising fuel supply, and weakening the country’s economic backbone.
The party warned that oil remains central to Nigeria’s fiscal survival, and its privatisation would further impoverish the country.
“If we sell off our oil assets, we are not just parting with numbers on a balance sheet, we are surrendering the lifeblood of our economy and the backbone of our national sovereignty,” Abdullahi cautioned.
Beyond the NNPCL issue, the ADC used the occasion to deliver a stinging critique of the Tinubu administration, accusing it of failing Nigerians across all fronts.
The party cited worsening insecurity, spiraling inflation, and soaring poverty levels as proof that the government’s “Renewed Hope” agenda has only deepened hardship.
“Insecurity remains perhaps the most damning indictment of APC’s misgovernance. Boko Haram and ISWAP still hold footholds in the North, banditry and kidnappings terrorise the Northwest, and the North Central continues to buckle under attacks,” Abdullahi said.
He also pointed to the unreliable power sector, a struggling healthcare system, institutional decay, and record youth unemployment as evidence of government failure.
The ADC referenced a joint letter recently issued by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), both of which rejected the proposed amendments to the PIA and warned against the sale of NNPCL’s assets.
Abdullahi urged civil society organisations, labour unions, and ordinary Nigerians to rise up in defence of the country’s resources.
“At 65, Nigeria must not stand for power, profit, or politics. Nigeria must stand for the people,” he declared.
Reaffirming its commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s commonwealth, the ADC vowed to resist corruption, defend national assets, and fight for the economic rights of future generations.
“The ADC stands firmly with Nigerian workers, civil society, and the patriotic citizens who oppose the plunder of our national resources. We will not watch silently while the nation’s wealth is bartered away,” Abdullahi concluded.