Coalition Demands NNPCL Accounts For $3.5 Billion Refinery Rehabilitation Funds

The Coalition for Oil Sector Reforms and Accountability has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to account for over $3.5 billion reportedly spent on refinery rehabilitation projects before entering into fresh agreements with Chinese firms.

The coalition made the demand on Thursday during a world press conference in Abuja, where its National President, Dr Tekeme Umukoro, criticised what he described as waste, opacity and repeated failed promises in Nigeria’s refinery sector.

The group’s position followed the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between NNPCL and two Chinese companies, Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng Industrial Park Operation and Management Company Limited, for the rehabilitation and operation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.

Umukoro said the latest agreement raised serious accountability questions, especially after previous refinery rehabilitation projects reportedly consumed billions of dollars without clear results.

He said, “We have gathered here today because Nigeria can no longer continue to tolerate a dangerous cycle of waste, opacity, and endless promises in the management of the nation’s refineries.”

He added that successive administrations had repeatedly promised to revive the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, only for such promises to collapse under poor execution and lack of transparency.

The coalition said it was unacceptable for public institutions to announce new agreements without first explaining what happened to earlier investments.

According to the group, the Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation alone reportedly consumed over $1.5bn, while additional billions were committed to the Warri and Kaduna refineries.

Umukoro said, “Nigerians deserve to know what happened to the billions already spent on refinery rehabilitation.”

He added that the continued dependence on imported refined petroleum products, unstable energy costs and repeated supply disruptions showed that previous rehabilitation efforts had failed to deliver the promised results.

The group demanded details of previous contracts, milestones achieved, actual work completed and reasons earlier rehabilitation programmes failed.

It asked, “Who handled the contracts? What milestones were achieved? What work was actually completed? Why did the previous rehabilitation programmes fail? Where are the audit reports? Where are the measurable operational outcomes?”

The coalition said no serious country would abandon one failed model and move into another without accounting for public funds already spent.

Umukoro also raised concerns over comments attributed to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, suggesting that the company was moving away from traditional contractor-led rehabilitation to a technical equity partnership structure.

He said Nigerians deserved full disclosure on the proposed arrangement before any fresh deal proceeds.

“If the old rehabilitation framework failed despite billions of dollars in expenditure, then Nigerians deserve a comprehensive explanation before another MoU jamboree,” he said.

The coalition warned that the proposed Chinese partnership could raise governance and energy sovereignty concerns if foreign entities take strategic operational positions in Nigeria’s refining infrastructure.

It demanded clarity on the proposed equity structure, financial obligations of the Federal Government and long-term implications for national energy security.

The coalition called for the immediate publication of a comprehensive audit report on all refinery rehabilitation expenditures from 2015 to date.

It also urged the National Assembly to commence a public investigative hearing into refinery spending over the past decade.

The group further asked President Bola Tinubu to direct anti-corruption agencies to investigate any evidence of financial misconduct linked to past refinery rehabilitation contracts.

Umukoro said, “We must never allow billions of dollars belonging to the Nigerian people disappear into endless cycles of rehabilitation without measurable results.”