Verheijen spoke in an interview with Bloomberg TV on the
sidelines of the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
(UAE) on Tuesday.

The presidential aide said the consideration was part of an
effort to boost competition in the refining industry.

“It’s one of the options that you have to consider if you
find the right technical partner with the right capital,” she said.

Verheijen noted that the plants have largely been sustained
by subsidies, saying “but now that we’ve removed the subsidies, we’ve removed
the distortions in that market”.

In October, NNPC said it had commenced a comprehensive
technical and commercial review of the moribund refineries in Warri, Port
Harcourt, and Kaduna.

On July 11, Bayo Ojulari, the group chief executive officer
(GCEO) of the NNPC, said it is becoming a ‘bit more’ complicated to revamp
state-owned refineries, hinting at completing an ongoing reassessment by
year-end.

Speaking further, Verheijen said the government also sees a
long-anticipated initial public offering for NNPC as “an end destination”.

“What’s really important to the shareholders is that we have
an NNPC that’s a lot more transparent, a lot more efficient and delivers,” she
said.

On Tuesday, Ojulari said NNPC has been enhancing
transparency regarding its operations in preparation for the much-anticipated
initial public offering.