President Tinubu Replies Obasanjo Over Claim Port Harcourt Refinery Will Never Work
- President Bola Tinubu has responded to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo's claim that the Port Harcourt Refinery would never work
- Obasanjo had said Nigeria's refineries could never work as long as the government continued to hold onto them
- President Tinubu’s senior special assistant on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, said Obasanjo's comment was an opinion as he is not an engineer
FCT, Abuja - President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reacted to former president Olusegun Obasanjo's comment that the Port Harcourt Refinery in Rivers state would never work.
Obasanjo, during an interview with TheCable, said Nigeria’s refineries would never function efficiently as long as they remained under government ownership.
Source: Facebook
Nigeria's refineries will not work
He said:
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“Someone told me Tinubu said refineries would work by December. I told the person the refineries would not work. This is based on the information I received from Shell when I was president.”
Obasanjo is not an engineer
Responding to Obasanjo’s comment, Tinubu’s senior special assistant on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, said the former Nigerian leader shouldn’t make such comments as he is not an engineer.
Ajayi stated this while speaking on the Daily Trust space themed: Analysing the First 100 Days of President Tinubu.
“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, with due respect to him, is not an engineer. He’s not the engineer working at the refineries. So, the engineers and the NNPC gave the president a report, and they have said that it will work by December this year,”
“We still have like four months to go. I will say that with all due respect to the former president, who is an elder statesman and our father, that what he said is his personal opinion and view. I would rather rely on the judgment of the engineers who are working at the refinery. So, I think we should wait until December.”
Four reasons Nigeria’s refineries will never work
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed why the four oil refineries in Nigeria will never work.
Obasanjo said the four refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna will never work as long as the government continues to hold onto them.
He disclosed that after much persuasion, the managing director of Shell listed four reasons why the oil company wouldn’t get involved in running Nigeria’s refineries, including “too much corruption.”
Dangote Refinery disappoints on takeoff date
Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, said during the commissioning of his refinery by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari on May 22, 2023, that the 560,000-barrel capacity refinery will begin production in July or early August.
With August well into the first week, Nigerians are waiting with bated breath as the refinery fails to begin production.
How functioning refineries will benefit Nigerians
Refineries, often considered the backbone of a nation's energy sector, play a pivotal role in driving economic growth and ensuring energy security.
These complex industrial facilities are responsible for converting raw crude oil into a range of valuable products that power industries, homes, and transportation systems.
The benefits of a refinery to a country are far-reaching and multifaceted, impacting not only the energy sector but the overall economy and even national security.
Source: Legit.ng
