Advertisement

It was gathered that the $2.9bn approved for refineries’ rehabilitation was being released in phases but the plan is to have the facilities fixed with this fund.

In March 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved the plan by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt Refinery with $1.5bn.

Advertisement

The decision was taken at the weekly meeting of the council presided over by Buhari, this was disclosed to reporters by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.

The contract for the Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation was awarded to an Italian company, Tecnimont spa.

Also, in August 2021, the Federal Government approved the sum of $1.4m for the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna refineries in Delta and Kaduna states.

Advertisement

A breakdown of the approved funds showed that $897m would be expended on the rehabilitation of the Warri refinery while $586m of the fund would be invested in the Kaduna refinery.

It should be noted that the $2.9bn is basically for refineries’ rehabilitation, as the facilities have been consuming billions of naira, if not trillions, on operating costs, salaries, maintenance and other expenses.

The Federal Government has been making moves to get the country’s dysfunctional refineries back on stream, as Nigeria currently imports the bulk of its refined petroleum products.

This has resulted in humongous subsidy spending by the NNPC, the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria for more than four years and counting.

Advertisement

The APC had during its campaigns in 2015 promised to get the refineries working. Buhari is billed to leave office in May 2023 and may have about seven months to fulfill the promise of getting Nigeria’s refineries working.

(Punch)