Stanbic IBTC Founder Criticises President Buhari Over $1.5 billion Budgeted for Refinery Repair

- Atedo Peterside criticises the plan by Nigerian government to repair the Port Harcourt refinery with $1.5 billion

- The rehabilitation of the refinery is expected to be completed in twenty-four months by Italian firm, Technimont SPA

- Peterside said the government should suspend the repair as experts want the refinery sold without rehabilitation

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The decision to pay $1.5 billion for the repair of the Port Harcourt refinery continues to receive negative reactions from industry experts and private sector leaders. The most recent is the founder of Stanbic IBTC, Atedo Peterside.

The banker said the government should halt the approval of the funds. The outspoken businessman said the decision to repair the dilapidated refinery is a brazen & expensive adventure.

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He advised the government to put the plan to public debate before going forward to disburse over N600 billion into the refinery. Nigeria's refineries have been abandoned for years without offering any revenue benefits to the country's economy.

Nigeria export crude oil and import fuel to the country due to the deplorable state the refineries are in. Several administrators have promised to rehabilitate the refineries, but none have achieved the promise.

President Muhammadu Buhari's administration decided to award the rehabilitation to an Italian firm, Technimont SPA, at $1.5 billion, to be completed in three phases: 12, 24 and 44 months.

PAY ATTENTION: Legit.ng is on a mission to support vulnerable children of Calabar – join the initiative.

In a post by the Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, the government said:

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"The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approves the sum of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery. The rehabilitation which was awarded to Tecnimont SPA, an Italian company will be done in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months, Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Sylva has disclosed.’’

But this didn't go down well with many Nigerians, including Peterside, who stated experts want the refinery sold as it is, with repair burden placed on the buyer, not the other way round.

"FG should halt $1.5bn approval for repair of Port Harcourt refinery and subject this brazen & expensive adventure to an informed national debate. Many experts prefer that this refinery is sold "as is" by BPE to core-investors with proven capacity to repair it with their own funds."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported how a Nigerian businesswoman, Olubunmi Otufowora, turned her pregnancy cravings into a million naira business.

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She started the business because she was craving blended fruit. The fruit startup that began with N3000 now earns over N20 million yearly as revenue.

Fakoyejo Olalekan is a Business and Financial Journalist with over three years of experience in covering finance and business activities within Nigeria and offshore. Prior to joining Legit.ng, he worked at Nairametrics where he wrote financial and investment analysis articles. Olalekan is a resourceful and result-driven journalist with a track record for conducting extensive research and interviews to produce articles that provide different perspectives to market activities.

Source: Legit.ng