LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT REFUNDS 145 FORMER SUBSCRIBERS OF EGAN HOUSING ESTATE
- Kyari: NNPCL employees not thieves
- GMD denies economic allegations of sabotage
- Govt targets two billion barrels per day, says Edun
Amid allegations of sabotage in the petroleum industry, the Senate is querying the over $1.5 billion approved in 2021 for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery with little or no result.
The ad hoc committee investigating the sabotage, led by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, held a session yesterday with stakeholders in the industry.
The session was attended by Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun; Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) Melee Kyari; Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe and Chief Executive Office, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, among others.
Bamidele worried about the dysfunctionality of government-owned refineries despite billions of dollars invested for their turn-around maintenance.
He said: “Under different administrations since 1999, the Federal Government has invested billions of dollars to maintain and turn around state-owned refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri. But the refineries are not functioning.
“In 2021 specifically, the Federal Executive Council approved $1.5 billion for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery. Yet, this investment has not yielded significant returns. For us in the Senate, we believe it is unfair and unpatriotic to treat government businesses or public corporations as an orphan while private businesses are flourishing and thriving.”
To nip these challenges in the bud, Bamidele said a joint committee of the National Assembly will investigate the allegations. He insisted there will be no grandstanding during the investigative hearing, and promised that the committee would carry out its mandate fairly and impartially.
“From our findings, we will craft a legislative framework that will entrench global best practices in the industry; open it up for more investments, especially in the midstream and downstream sectors, and end vicious regimes of subterfuge in the petroleum industry,” Bamidele added.
But, according to Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri, a lot of misinformation was already in the public on roles played by his ministry and other agencies in making it inclusive for interested investors.
The planned public hearing by the committee, he noted, would help Nigerians know the truth on happenings in the sector.
He said: “Please do us a favour by televising the planned investigative hearing on the alleged economic sabotage in the petroleum industry live.”
Kyari, on his part, said the company should be counted out of any act of sabotage.
“We are faithful, loyal and committed to the greatness of this country. We are not criminals, thieves or saboteurs as being alleged through wrong narratives.
“The NNPCL under our management and by operational guidelines or relevant provisions of PIA and CAMA, is today a profit making company after about 43 years of losses. From 1.4 million barrels it was months back, production level has increased to 1.65 million barrels per day and will soon hit the expected two million barrels per day.
“There is nothing for NNPCL to sabotage because we are out to maximise value and profit for the country. We are not against any domestic refinery because the laws are clear as far as processes and procedures are concerned.
“As requested by the Minister of State for Petroleum, the planned public hearing should be televised live for Nigerians to know the truth,” he said.
Ahmed said: “A lot of negative stories and narratives have been written and published against NMDPRA, especially how we perform our regulatory functions without us telling our own story.
“Gratifyingly, the planned public hearing will give us the appropriate platform of laying our facts bare to Nigerians so they know who the saboteurs are. The investigation should be public and televised live.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Wale Edun said the government is targeting two billion barrels of crude oil production per day to gain more foreign exchange.
Edun noted that increase in crude oil would stabilise the country’s foreign exchange market, while expressing confidence in the committee’s ability to conduct an unbiased and impartial investigation.
He said: “In the 2024 budget, we have estimated and projected 1.7 billion barrels per day. We are below that target. Crude oil production is moving up. I believe that we have the expansion. We are up 1.6 billion barrels per day and we have this commitment that we will be able to reach two billion barrels per day.
“And that is critical because that is the first source of foreign exchange as well as foreign revenue, and at a time where President Bola Tinubu’s policies are geared at stabilising the economy, a critical aspect of that is the inflow of foreign exchange to stabilise the exchange rate, enable it to appreciate, thereby helping to reduce inflation. This is will then lead to the Central Bank and monetary authorities being in a position to lower interest rates and thus encourage investment to get the economy going…”
Dangote Refinery however admitted that 60 per cent of its crude is sourced from the NNPCL.
In his presentation, Group Chief Strategy Officer of Dangote Refinery, Aliyu Sulaiman, said of the five million litres of crude they got recently, 60 per cent was from NNPCL, 20 per cent imported and 20 per cent purchased.
He hailed the NNPCL for making the huge supply to Dangote, but said the refinery is a baby that should be supported by all relevant stakeholders to grow and not die.
However, the National Chairman of Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN), Abdulkabir Aliyu, said Dangote declared N133 billion profit from Sugar sales in Nigeria within the last six months.
This, he said, was possible because Dangote monopolised the Sugar business in Nigeria.
The Petroleum sector, Aliyu added, should not be monopolised by any person or company ‘because monopoly kills business’, he said.
Similarly, National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alhaji Abubakar Shettima, advised the committee against allowing monopoly in the petroleum sector.
“The current value chain in the downstream should be sustained to allow other investors participate. NNPCL is doing its best, but should please improve on supply of products to retail outlets across the country to end the incessant queues at filling stations,” Shettima said.