The Energy Reforms Advocates of Nigeria and the APC Youth Vanguard for Change are really upset. They said it’s not good that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) is not fixing the Port Harcourt and Kaduna oil refineries, even though a lot of money has been spent.
The groups talked in Abuja on Friday and also said that NNPCL should not bring bad fuel into Nigeria.
The refineries should have been fixed by now, but it keeps getting delayed, and the promises made by the oil company are not kept, according to DAILY POST.
The head of NNPCL, Mr. Kyari, told Nigerians many times that the refineries would soon work again, but it hasn’t happened.
The groups are sad because even though $1.5 billion was approved in 2021 for Port Harcourt and $1.4 billion for Warri and Kaduna refineries, they still don’t work.
Dr. Opialu Fabian, a speaker from the group, said some people in NNPCL might be stopping the repairs on purpose to make more money from importing fuel.
He said that because the refineries don’t work, people in Nigeria have to wait in long lines for fuel, pay too much for it, and see prices for other things go up too.
He explained, “We are talking now to let people know that the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries are still having problems.
“Nigeria, which makes a lot of oil, still has to bring in fuel from other countries. This costs us a lot of money and makes it hard for Nigerians who have to stand in line for fuel and pay high prices.
“We keep hearing the same reasons from NNPCL, talking about ‘old technology’ and ‘rusted parts’ and ‘no data to check the structure’.
“Not too long ago, Mr. Mele Kyari, the NNPCL leader, said the Port Harcourt refinery would start working by the end of March this year.
“But that did not happen, no fuel was made, and we wonder if these promises are real or just to make us feel better with false hope.
“Right now, the energy part of Nigeria is really important. Even though we have a lot of crude oil, we’re not getting the benefits we should by making our own fuel, having cheaper fuel, and saving foreign money. But the leaders at NNPCL keep importing fuel, which uses up foreign money and affects our currency badly.”