The Senate has raised concern over the $1.5 billion approved by the Federal Government for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery without commensurate results.
The Chairman of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, Opeyemi Bamidele, raised the concern during an interactive session with stakeholders on Wednesday in Abuja.
Bamidele, who is also the Senate Leader, said it was wrong to treat public companies shabbily while private businesses were thriving.
He recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2021 approved the plan to rehabilitate and turn around the refinery with $1.5 billion.
The lawmaker expressed concerns about the dysfunctional state of government-owned refineries despite the billions of dollars spent on turn-around maintenance.
He said: “The federation is undergoing a truly challenging period. The distribution and supply of refined petroleum products have been irregular and problematic in the recent history of our fatherland.
“The long queues at filling stations are a testament to this challenge.
“A situation, whereby we now depend almost entirely on the importation of these products even when we daily supply the global oil market about two percent of its crude oil requirements is worrisome.”
He also decried the importation of hazardous petroleum products and the dumping of substandard diesel into the country.
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“The federal government since 1999 has invested billions of dollars to maintain and turn around the state-owned refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri. But the refineries are not functioning.
“In 2021, specifically, the Federal Executive Council approved $1.5 billion for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery. Yet, this investment has not yielded significant returns.
“For us in the Senate, we believe, it is unfair and unpatriotic to treat government businesses or public corporations as an orphan while private businesses are flourishing and thriving,” Bamidele added.
He said the National Assembly was ready to carry out the investigative hearing with all sense of honour and responsibility.
However, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Melee Kyari, refuted claims the company was sabotaging domestic refineries.
He said: “All of us here see what is happening in the media. There is a targeted personal attack on my person, on the institution. And we all know how this works.
“They are deliberate, they are calculated. So, that creates the impression that NNPCL and our leadership are doing anything to create economic sabotage in our country.
“It is far from it. This company has grown. We are proud to say this. From a lost company for 43 years to a profit-making company today.”
Also, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri, said the oil sector was bedeviled by a lot of misinformation.
“This Senate should do Nigerians a favour by televising the proceedings of this committee live.
“This will do a whole lot of justice not only to the Senate but we in the Executive and key leaders in the sector.
“Because of the fundamental nature of this investigation that has to do with alleged economic sabotage with the importation of substandard products into the country, we urge the Senate to ensure we do a live broadcast,” the minister stated.
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