Senate queries $1.5bn spent on Port Harcourt refinery

By Musa Baba Adamu

Amid allegations of sabotage in the petroleum industry, the Senate has raised questions over $1.5 billion approved in 2021 for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery with little or no result.

Consequently, the upper chamber lamented that it was unfair and wrong to treat government businesses or public companies as an orphan while private businesses were flourishing and thriving.

The Leader of the Senate and Chairman, Senate Ad-hoc Committee to Investigate the Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele raised the questions at a session with stakeholders in the industry at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja on Wednesday.

The session was attended by Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun; Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Malam Melee Kyari; Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr. Gbenga Komolafe and Chief Executive Office, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, among others.

The Federal Executive Council had approved the plan by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to rehabilitate and turn around the Port Harcourt Refinery with a whopping sum of $1.5 billion under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Despite the huge investment, the government-owned refinery is yet to function effectively, a situation that compelled the country to depend almost entirely on the importation of petroleum products.

At the session with stakeholders yesterday, however, Bamidele expressed grave concerns about the dysfunctionality of the government-owned refineries despite billions of Dollars invested to carry out turn-around maintenance on the installation.

Bamidele observed that the federation “is undergoing a truly challenging period,” pointing out that the distribution and supply of refined petroleum products “has been irregular and problematic in the recent history of our fatherland.”

Under different administrations since 1999, Bamidele observed that 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 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 pointed out at the interactive session.

He, therefore, promised that the National Assembly “is ready to carry out the investigative hearing with all senses of honor and responsibility,” citing impeccable professional backgrounds of the members of the committee.

Also, at the session, Kyari claimed that NNPCL “is loyal and faithful to the country,” saying its management vowed to protect the interest of Nigeria in the petroleum industry.

He observed that most problems in the petroleum industry “have nothing to do with NNPCL. We are faithful and loyal to the economic interest of this country. We are not criminals. We are not thieves. But we will protect our dignity and honour.

In his own remarks, Edun said the increase in the crude would stabilise the country’s foreign exchange market while expressing confidence in the leadership of the ad-hoc committee to conduct an unbiased and impartial investigation.