A recent admission by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has confirmed that Nigeria’s refineries remain non-functional despite over $18 billion spent on their rehabilitation, which exposes years of mismanagement, failed promises, and massive financial waste in the oil sector.
Development Diaries reports that there have been criticisms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration following remarks by the leadership of the NNPCL, which cast serious doubt on the viability of the country’s refineries despite the billions invested in their rehabilitation.
It is understood that the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, recently stated that the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries might never resume operations, even after about $18bn had been spent on their turnaround.
Meanwhile, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari has echoed similar concerns, stating that a strategic review of NNPCL’s refinery operations was underway and that ‘sale is not out of the question’.
Ojulari, admitted that the facilities remain obsolete and underperforming despite years of investments.
This admission, combined with Dangote’s blunt assessment that the refineries may never work again, confirms fears long held by critics, that the country’s refinery turnaround efforts have been a costly and avoidable failure.
The NNPC’s strategic review is a step in the right direction, but it raises even more pressing questions about accountability and the future of public assets in the sector.
The frustration voiced by opposition leaders is justified, especially given the consistent deception around the operational status of these refineries by past administrations.
The fact that Nigerians were repeatedly assured of near-completion or full operation, only to later find out the claims were false, points to a pattern of misinformation and disregard for public trust.
As former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Dangote have suggested, the inability of the NNPC to manage these assets has been an open secret for decades.
Yet, instead of prioritising performance and reform, successive governments chose to continue investing public funds into what many now describe as a bottomless pit.
The contrast between the failure of state-run refineries and the promise of the Dangote refinery only reinforces the argument for competent and transparent private sector involvement in critical national infrastructure.
However, privatisation without proper safeguards could replicate the same failures seen in the electricity sector.
While the current government’s plan to sell the refineries may seem like a smart move, it should not be used as an easy way to avoid taking responsibility.
There must be an independent, public-facing investigation into how billions of dollars were expended with no commensurate result.
Those found to have diverted or mismanaged funds must be held accountable in accordance with the law. It is not enough to quietly move on or sell off the refineries as scrap without addressing the deep-rooted rot that led to their collapse in the first place.
Citizens deserve both justice and assurances that this level of abuse will not happen again under any guise.
Development Diaries calls on the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, to lead an urgent and transparent audit of all past and ongoing refinery rehabilitation contracts.
This must be followed by a comprehensive report made accessible to the Nigerian public, detailing what went wrong, who was responsible, and what reforms will be implemented moving forward.
Any plans to privatise these refineries must include clear benchmarks for performance, anti-corruption safeguards, and public participation to prevent a repeat of the power sector fiasco.
Nigerians cannot continue to bear the cost of elite failure; there must be consequences, reform, and a new direction grounded in accountability and competence.
