On Thursday, August 8, the Independent Petroleum Marketers
Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, announced to Nigerians that the Port Harcourt
Refinery would become operational in four weeks’ time, perhaps to meet the
government’s August deadline of producing petroleum products.
The association went further to say that the refinery would
equally be supplying between 10 and 12 million litres of petrol to marketers.
The IPMAN’s National Operations Controller, Zarma Mustapha,
who let the cat out of the bag in an interview on national television, said the
refinery would boost the supply of petroleum products in the country to about
11 to 15 million liters daily, and help ensure energy availability across the
board.
According to him, the refinery was set to operate
independently and sell at the prevailing market price with little or no
government interference.
“There is this understanding that the Port Harcourt Refinery
is going to perform independently and sell at whatever prevailing market price
for them to recover their cost.
“It is not going to be run like a government entity as it
has been before. I believe that the refinery coming up will really boost the
demand and supply of PMS to nothing less than 11 to 15 million litres daily.
“I am confident and optimistic that this August deadline is
going to be a realistic deadline. It will come on stream and fully produce all
the necessary components that the refinery is supposed to produce,” he said.
However, instead of receiving the news with enthusiasm,
Nigerians were rather skeptical considering the fact that several of such
promises had been made in the past without any of them coming to fruition.
A segment of the society described the development as a
harvest of promises with unending deceptions.
Some are of the opinion that the latest promise which is
about the fourth in the series could still go the way of the previous ones,
even as others have volunteered to give the government the benefit of the
doubt.
Recall that earlier, Nigerians were told that the refinery
would start operations in December 2023.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri, had
sounded optimistic about the December 2023 deadline, but at the end of the day,
nothing happened, and no apologies were offered.
On Thursday, March 13, 2024, Nigerians were again greeted
with the news that the Port Harcourt Refinery would become operational in two
weeks’ time.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, assured Nigerians that the
rehabilitated Port Harcourt Refinery would commence operations in two weeks. He
made the revelation at an interactive session with the Senate.
He assured Nigerians that the delivery date of the Port
Harcourt and other refineries remained sacrosanct.
According to the NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, in a
statement, Kyari said: “We will make sure that promises that we made about the
rehabilitation of these refineries are kept. We completed the mechanical
completion of PHRC in December.
“Now, we have crude oil already stocked in it. It is
currently undergoing regulatory compliance tests before we re-stream it. I
assure you that this refinery will start in next two weeks
“For the Warri Refinery, we have also done mechanical work
on it. It is undergoing regulatory compliance processes that we are doing with
our regulators. Kaduna will be ready by December this year, but we have not
reached that stage. We believe that it will also be ready on schedule.”
Kyari noted that the Port Harcourt refinery had received
450,000 barrels of crude for processing since the mechanical completion of the
plant in December last year.
He called for the cooperation of all stakeholders in the
rehabilitation process, saying, “We are all serving this country dutifully and
loyally. Nigerians must understand that gradually, we shall get this task
done.”
The statement added that the Senate Ad-hoc Committee was
expected to visit the three refineries in Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt soon
for an on-the-spot assessment of work progress.
The two week’s ultimatum ended in April and the refinery did
not even produce a litre of petrol. Most Nigerians were not surprised as they
never even believed the statement when it was released.
Again, on Monday, May 20, the National Public Relations
Officer, Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu,
promised Nigerians that the 210,000-barrel-per-day Port-Harcourt Refinery would
finally commence operations by the end of July after several postponements.
He stated that the development would stimulate economic
activities, reduce the price of petroleum products and ensure adequate supply.
Again, July came and ended without the Refinery working.
Nigerians, again, did not give a whimper because they never took the statement
seriously in the first instance.
So, the latest news that the PH Refinery would be
operational in four weeks’ time did not receive cheers from Nigerians.
To many Nigerians, it has become a festival of promises. In
fact, it has become a cliché to hear that the refinery, whether Port Harcourt,
Warri or Kaduna, would work. Since 2015, when the ruling All Progressives
Congress, APC, wrested powers from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which
held sway for 16 years, there have been promises of a turnaround maintenance of
the Port Harcourt Refinery and others and their eventual operation, but none
has ever come to fruition. It has all been deceptions couched in political
statements to hoodwink the Nigerian masses.
So, when the IPMAN’s National Operations Controller,
Mustapha announced on Thursday that the PH Refinery would begin operations in
four weeks’ time, as an indication of the government’s preparedness to actually
end fuel importation, not many were excited, as most people expressed
skepticism, considering the past promises.
There are various views about the development. While some
dismissed the news outright as mere political talks, others said even though
such promises never produced any positive outcome in the past, they were
prepared to give the government the benefit of the doubt this time round.
Those who believe that nothing would come out of it and that
it was just mere political talks said it was akin to a political campaign
promise where politicians promise that they would build bridges even where
there is no river.
However, those who want to give the government the benefit
of the doubt are of the view that even a liar would have a day when he would
decide to be honest. To them, the government might have decided to turn a new
leaf and do the right thing this time.
One of the proponents of those pushing that Nigerians should
give the government the benefit of the doubt this time round is the president
of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Yerima Shettima.
He said although he would like to remain optimistic this
time round, he cannot blame those who don’t believe the government’s promise
considering the previous promises about the same refinery, which ended with no
positive result
“The problem with the promise is just that we have a
government that speaks from both sides of the mouth and previous promises have
come and gone without fulfillment. So, even if this one is genuine, a lot of
people will have a lot of doubts in their minds.
“But, I hope this will not be the same story because you
cannot continue to say one thing today, and then tomorrow, you say another
thing.
“Doing that will always put you on the defensive because you
always want to say something, giving people hope without anything on ground to
fulfill such promises,” he said.
He advised the government to be honest and sincere with
Nigerians, warning that deliberately lying to the people always would only
provoke them to anger, which is not good for the society.
“The more you lie to the people about the refinery, the more
you provoke people to anger. So, I am of the view that this time round, the
government should try to live up to their promise.
“I am not part of those who don’t believe that things will
work because I am always optimistic and I strongly believe that there will be
light at the end of the tunnel. So, all they need to do is to re-programme
themselves to be more sincere and honest to Nigerians,” he said.
He noted that the situation was so critical that the
government just has to do everything possible to make sure that the refinery
and other things work in the country.
He also advised that the leaders should not continue to give
excuses because they knew exactly what the situation was before they went into
office.
“We are in a critical period where people must have to
understand that things are not okay and the government must also do something
because they knew the problem before they took over the mantle of leadership.
“And to that extent, ours is to support them, and let them
be honest to Nigerians, so that all of us will be able to survive this trying
period,” he submitted.
But for a journalist and public affairs analyst, Nze
Ezeocha, there is nothing cheery about the latest promise.
He noted that last year, the Minister of State for
Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri told Nigerians that it would become operational
before Christmas.
“Christmas passed and we reminded them about their promise
and they gave Nigerians a fresh date, which also never came to reality.
“Now, we are being fed with another promise about the same
refinery. This is the fourth time that the NNPCL and the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources are telling Nigerians that the PH Refinery would be operational in
weeks. And at the end of the day, nothing would come out of it.
“So, as far as I am concerned, I think this latest promise
will end up like the previous ones. We have seen the brickbat between the NNPCL
and the Dangote Refinery.
“Dangote is still insisting that it has not got enough crude
from the NNPCL. Nigerians would like to know the kind of agreement Dangote had
with the NNPCL.
“Dangote also demanded that the NNPCL should be mandated to
direct the IOCs to be selling their crude to him. Did he not make adequate
arrangements on how he will be getting crude before setting up a refinery?
“So, the whole thing about this oil refining in Nigeria is
shrouded in secrecy and deception and the earlier the government comes clean on
that the better for everybody in this country,” he added.
The president of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr. Pogu
Bitrus, equally agrees with Ezeocha.
He stated that nothing would come out of the promise. He
believes that the Nigerian attitude has not changed, and would not want
Nigerians to build any hope around the promise to avoid suffering unnecessary
heart ache.
“We do propaganda with everything. We politicise everything.
The President doesn’t have to tell us that the Port Harcourt Refinery is on
course when it is not fully on course. Let this government start to do things
differently.
“When things are not right, rather than getting political
capital by telling lies to Nigerians, they should come out to tell Nigerians
the true situation of things,” he said.
Continuing, he said: “There is no point in deceiving the
populace. Let them tell the truth and they will better be appreciated, rather
than thinking that by telling lies, they are playing politics. They are instead
dishonouring themselves, and Nigerians will lose confidence in them very soon.”
Also speaking, a legal practitioner and public commentator,
IK Onodi also did not believe that the refinery would become operational in two
weeks time.
He said such promises had been made in the past and none
came to fruition, and because of that he would not believe anybody until he has
seen that the refinery has actually started refining.
According to him: “It is said that action speaks louder than
words. We were told last year when the Dangote Refinery was commissioned that
it would start producing by July last year.
“From July last year till now is about nine months, and no
drop of crude oil has been refined by the Dangote Refinery.
“We have been told times without numbers that the Port
Harcourt Refinery and other refineries would come on stream very soon.
“If I were the government, I will not announce anything
until the refinery starts producing and when that happens, I will tell
Nigerians that this is from the PH or Warri or Kaduna Refineries. I will not
believe it until I see it.”
For an independent petroleum marketer, Chief Dipo Lanre, the
refinery might not likely work in four weeks as promised.
He, however, noted that he would not totally dismiss it but
expressed strong reservation about the feasibility of the promise considering
the past promises which never yielded any positive result.
“I pray that this time, the promise will be fulfilled. It
should not go the way of previous promises about the refinery.
“Remember that during Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration,
the same Port Harcourt Refinery was sold to Mike Otedola and Aliko Dangote, but
the money was later returned to them.
“And since that money was returned to Otedola and Dangote,
the refinery has not returned to operation; it has been promises upon promises.
It has become a cancer to the Nigeria society.
“I am tired of the politics of that refinery. Politicians
have used it to play politics since the Obasanjo era. What is a refinery
anyway?
“What is the big deal in building a refinery? Since 1999
when the democratic governance returned, we could have built more than four
refineries if we are serious.
“For almost 25 years, we have been playing politics with the
refinery. Let it not be another round of deception this time,” he further said.
