Senate Probes $1.5bn Port Harcourt Refinery Rehabilitation

The Nigeria Senate has expressed worries regarding the $1.5 billion approved in 2021 for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery, noting a lack of significant results.

Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee investigating alleged economic sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, voiced these concerns during a stakeholder meeting on Wednesday in Abuja.

Bamidele, who is also the Senate Leader, stressed that it is unjust and inappropriate to overlook public companies while private enterprises continue to prosper.

He recalled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved a $1.5 billion plan by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in 2021 to rehabilitate and revamp the Port Harcourt Refinery. 

Bamidele expressed concerns about the dysfunctional state of government-owned refineries, despite the billions of dollars spent on maintenance and turnaround efforts. 

“The federal government 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 dollars 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 said. 

He said that the National Assembly is ready to carry out the investigative hearing with all sense of honour and responsibility. 

In response, Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), refuted claims of sabotaging domestic refineries. 

He said the oil company has made huge progress from being a loss-operating firm for 43 years to becoming a profit-making entity.  

Kyari said that there is, however, a calculated media attack on his person as well as the national oil company itself.  

“All of us here see what is happening in the media. 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,” said Kyari.