An Energy Expert, Sam Aiboni has alleged that the local operators in the Niger Delta creeks are capable of refining crude oil whereas the NNPC has consistently failed to do so. He expressed strong reservations about the government’s approach to addressing the refineries’ challenges.
He argued that by simply allocating funds to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to fix the refineries is not a viable solution. He stated that the NNPC’s track record demonstrates its inability to manage the refineries effectively. He identified that a more fundamental transformation is needed to address the systemic inefficiencies that have plagued the NNPC’s management of the four refineries.
He said in an interview with Arise TV From 3:10, ”I think throwing money at the refineries for NNPC to fix it is not the way to go. We are happy that we have Dangote and a few of the modular refineries coming upstream now. But you see, we have boys in the Niger Delta creeks that can refine crude and NNPC cannot refine crude. And it’s tragic and also comical at the same time. The money we have been spending on the refineries goes beyond the figures that we are being told on paper.
We have gotten the General Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari saying they are committed to get the refineries running. The rhetorics that the refinery is going to be up and running is as if it is just as a means to get allocation to spend on the refinery. What has been consistent over the last few years is that NNPC has shown that it cannot run the refineries. So Government throwing money at NNPC to get the refineries working in the next two years is still not going to work.”….Vìêw–Morê