The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association wants the federal government to investigate the billion-dollar rehabilitation contracts that could not get Nigerian refineries working or deliver sustained refining output before it will consider engaging in another deal
Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, expresses this concern while reacting to the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and Chinese firms for the “restart, completion, and expansion” of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
He says that while the nation is desperately in need of functional refineries, it cannot ignore the decade-long pattern of billion-dollar rehabilitation contracts that have delivered zero sustained refining output. It will be unpatriotic to endorse another deal while questions on past spending remain unanswered.
The Director-General notes that “it is on record and apt to say that the nation cannot afford another trail of wasteful spending. In the last few years, $25 billion has been spent with zero value. Between 2010 and 2023, Nigeria expended over ₦11 trillion, approximately $25 billion on refinery rehabilitation projects, maintenance, and turnaround programmes, yet the state-owned refineries remain significantly unreliable and non-functional”.
Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde emphasises that while the intention might be right, it is important for the NNPC to provide Nigerians with sufficient informational explanation on the status of past spending and audits carried out on the refineries.
NTA
