Senate stops sale of P’Harcourt refinery

The Senate, on Tuesday, ordered the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to halt further action or planned

concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to AGIP and OANDO.

In a motion sponsored by Senator Sabo Mohammed and tagged ‘Non Transparent Transaction relating to the planned concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to AGIP and OANDO by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Senate questioned the rationale behind the action.

Accordingly, the Senate has set up an ad-hoc committee to carry a holistic investigation to determine how and why such a deal was sealed and the criteria used to select AGIP and OANDO to maintain and operate the Port Hacourt Refinery at what cost and time-frame.

Sen. Mohammed, in his motion, claimed that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, had revealed that the agreement was part of a broader government plan to increase capacity for local production and consumption of petroleum products with the aim of ending fuel importation in Nigeria by 2019.

The Jigawa State-born lawmaker further observed that the planned concession of Port Harcourt  was without recourse to due process and described it as illegal and a clear attempt at ridiculing Nigerians. He said the action would create a hole that will be hard to fill in the anti-corruption crusade of the present administration.

He said the action by Kachikwu, goes contrary to claims he made in late 2015, when he declared the three refineries in the country, namely, Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt would be working at 90 per cent capacity, thereby reducing importation and subsidy controversies. The senator wondered why in 2017, the refineries were yet to be fixed and cannot produce 50 per cent.

Senators Dino Melaye and Kabiru ‎Gaya, supported the motion and called on the Senate to take a firm action. Melaye in his submissions, said consession of government-owned companies, have always been mismanaged in the past.

Gaya on his part, said in the absence of Kaduna and Warri refineries which are currently dysfunctional, it will be unfair to sell off the Port Harcourt refinery to investors.

But Kachikwu, in far away Vienna, Austria, said refineries repair could not be done in an open bidding process. Speaking to newsmen, Kachikwu said the refineries concession “is a highly technical area, what we have done is to invite those who have experience in refining, but it is open, anybody who feels he has the skills and has the money is welcome. It is not just about the skills but the money too.