- MoU with Chinese to address all the concerns -Company
The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has questioned the new refinery agreement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Chinese firms, demanding transparency and accountability.
NECA Director-General, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja while reacting to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on May 4 for refinery rehabilitation and expansion projects.
However, a source from NNPC Limited, who spoke anonymously because he did not get clearance to speak to the media on the matter, explained that the national oil company only reached an understanding to work with the Chinese companies.
He said the memorandum of understanding with Chinese players was declared in widely circulated public statement in line with the commitment of the management to transparency.
The statement by NECA is titled: “Enough of MoU Governance and Failed Revamps on Port Harcourt and Other Refineries.”
Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde warned in the statement that Nigeria could not afford another failed refinery rehabilitation after spending about $25 billion on turnaround maintenance projects with little measurable results.
According to him, repeated rehabilitation cycles at the Port Harcourt refinery had failed to deliver sustainable refining output in spite of huge public investments over the years.
“It will be unpatriotic to endorse another opaque refinery deal while questions surrounding past spending and failed rehabilitation projects remain unresolved.
“Nigeria cannot continue spending billions of dollars on refinery turnaround maintenance without sustainable refining output or measurable economic value.
“NNPCL must rebuild public trust through transparency, accountability and a clear business model capable of ending repeated refinery rehabilitation failures,” he said.
According to Oyerinde, Nigerians deserve clear explanations on previous spending, audit outcomes and safeguards against delays, cost overruns and repeated operational failures.
He urged NNPCL to disclose details of the proposed technical partnerships, local content plans and technology transfer arrangements under the agreement.
Oyerinde said businesses had suffered decades of energy insecurity through rising production costs, fuel import dependence and job losses linked to dysfunctional refineries.
The NECA boss reiterated calls for privatization or concession of the refineries, insisting governance reforms must precede further rehabilitation projects.
He said the association supported refinery revamp efforts only under transparent, accountable and commercially sustainable arrangements capable of restoring public confidence.
In response to the statement by NECA and similar statements by frontline politicians and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the NNPC Limited source explained that the new arrangement conceived and being implemented by the new constituted management of the national oil company is set out to address the exact concerns raised by NECA.
He said the management of NNPC Limited is fully committed to full disclosure; adding that details of the proposed technical partnerships, local content plans and technology transfer arrangements would be made public when the MOU translates to investment deals.
The NNPC Limited executive that the collective desire to provide energy security to Nigeria’s domestic businesses environment made it most compelling that public sector must involve in production and supply of fuel to homes and industry.
He noted that the era of fuel importation into the domestic economy is over, pointing out that the country’s fast growing crude oil refining industry. He explained that market forces and competition would further address cost of fuel when more refineries come online.
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