Mr. Abdullahi Sule, the governor of Nasarawa State, stated yesterday that the Muhammadu Buhari administration spent over $19 billion repairing Nigeria’s four refineries in eight years with zero results.
Governor Sule stated this while speaking on Channels Television yesterday, June 8, 2023.
The governor, who was Managing Director of African Petroleum (AP) about 20 years ago, stated that the process and finances for fixing the country’s refineries were largely mismanaged.
The governor claimed that various licenses had been awarded in the past for the construction of refineries, but that this had not succeeded due to the nature of the sector.
He argued that the Buhari-led administration spent more than what Dangote spent on building his refinery.
Sule stated, “Just look at how much the President Muhammadu Buhari administration spent on fixing of the refineries. In the eight years, he spent more money than the $19 billion that Dangote spent in building his refinery, which is one and a half times the size of all our three refineries combined.
“Our three refineries today have a total capacity of 450,000 barrels per day. Dangote’s is 650,000 barrels per day. He spent $19 billion. We spent more than $19 billion maintaining these refineries in eight years, yet they have not been maintained”.
Sule claimed that while a refinery typically has up to five components, money was frequently released to restore one section, which did not produce any results.
While it would have been ideal to repair one of the refineries, he added that the funds provided were distributed across all plants, resulting in “zero work.”
“We have not really managed these things well, The refinery is actually a component for water, crude, and diesel, about five or six different components that constitute a refinery.
“The moment the government says we are going to spend $2 billion this year on the refinery. The $2 billion is spent and as far as the president is concerned, they have given $2 billion.
“Now when it goes to the three refineries that we have in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, then they say, you now take $700 million, you now take $800 million, by the time they take that, it goes to fix maybe only one component out of the four components that are all bad” he added.
Sule emphasized that while the government may have good intentions about fixing the refineries, others who do not share those goals have a way of derailing the process.
