The Senate raised concerns over the $1.5bn approved in 2021 for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery with little or nothing to show.
The upper chamber lamented that it is “unfair and wrong to treat government businesses or public companies as an orphan while private businesses were flourishing and thriving,” according to The Punch.
The Senate Leader and Chairman, Senate ad-hoc Committee to investigate the alleged economic sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, Opeyemi Bamidele raised the observation at a meeting with industry stakeholders on Wednesday at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
The Federal Executive Council, under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the Ministry of Petroleum Resources plan to rehabilitate and turn around the Port Harcourt Refinery with $1.5 billion.
The government-owned refinery has been operational, despite the huge investment, which has forced the nation to rely almost solely on petroleum product imports.
Bamidele decried the state of the government-owned refineries during the Wednesday stakeholder session, despite huge investments for its turnaround maintenance.
Bamidele observed that the country “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.
“The long queues at filling stations are obviously 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. No fewer than two per cent of its crude oil requirements are, to say the least, highly worrisome.
“We also have at hand a grievous issue of national concern that directly borders on the importation of hazardous petroleum products and dumping of substandard diesel into the country.”
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 $1.5bn 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 revealed that the Senate and the House of Representatives would work together to look into a number of allegations of economic sabotage in the petroleum industry.
