Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the Federal government to halt all proposed refinery deals, warning that pursuing such projects would repeat past failures.
This follows comments by the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Engr. Bayo Ojulari, who described the reopening of the Port Harcourt Refinery as a huge waste of resources, noting that the company currently lacks the capacity to run refineries profitably.
Ojulari explained at the 2026 Nigerian International Energy Summit that effective refinery operations require adequate financing, competent EPC contractors, and strong operational and maintenance capacity, conditions he said NNPC does not currently meet.
Reacting to the NNPC chairman’s remarks in a statement issued on Sunday, Atiku said the latest push to revive the Port Harcourt Refinery reflects political pressure rather than economic sense.
He emphasized that continuing with such projects would only repeat decades of mismanaged investments and urged the government to prioritize privatisation and sound policy over costly revival attempts.
The former VP noted that decades of turnaround maintenance on Nigeria’s refineries have consumed billions of dollars with little to show, exposing deep deficits in technical expertise, operational capacity, and financial discipline.
He warned that repeating the same approach would further strain public resources without improving production.
Atiku reiterated that Nigeria would have been better served by selling the refineries before rehabilitation, noting that privatisation would prevent ballooning debt and stop the steady depreciation of these assets.
According to the statement, “After gulping $1.5bn, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has now admitted that reopening the Port Harcourt Refinery is a waste of scarce resources. This belated admission validates my long-held position that Nigeria’s refineries should be privatised.
“It is instructive that the Tinubu administration has finally come to terms with an inevitable truth: pouring public funds into moribund refineries is economically indefensible. Paying billions in salaries to facilities that produce not a single litre of petrol does not serve the national interest.
“For years, I advanced this patriotic position and was vilified and accused of plotting to sell public assets to “friends.” Today, the facts have caught up with the rhetoric. Decades of so-called turnaround maintenance have swallowed billions of dollars with nothing to show for it, exposing deep deficits in capacity, technical know-how, and financial discipline.
“The latest push to “revive” these refineries was driven by political pressure, not economic sense. Politics must never substitute for sound, transformative policy. Accordingly, any proposed refinery deal, including with foreign partners, should be discontinued, as it merely repeats failed models.
“Nigeria would have been better served by selling the refineries pre-rehabilitation to avoid ballooning debt and the steady depreciation of what have effectively become liabilities.
