The Senate has expressed worry over the 1.5 billion dollars granted in 2021 for turnaround maintenance at the Port Harcourt Refinery, which has yielded little or no results.
Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, expressed his worry during an interactive session with stakeholders on Wednesday in Abuja.
Bamidele, who is also the Senate Leader, said it was unjust and unethical to punish public firms poorly while private businesses thrived and prospered.
He noted that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the Ministry of Petroleum Resources’ plan to rebuild and turn around the Port Harcourt Refinery with 1.5 billion dollars.
Bamidele expressed concerns about the dysfunctional state of government-owned refineries in spite of billions of dollars spent on turn-around maintenance.
“The federation is undergoing a truly challenging period. 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 about two per cent of its crude oil requirements is worrisome,” he said.
He also expressed concern over the importation of dangerous petroleum products and the dumping of substandard fuel in the country.
Bamidele said that since 1999, the federal government had “invested billions of dollars to maintain and turn around the state-owned refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri.” However, the refineries are not operating.
