President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued a sharp retort to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent comments on the petroleum refinery in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, asserting that Obasanjo’s lack of engineering expertise disqualifies him from making such statements.
Obasanjo had expressed skepticism about the efficiency of the nation’s refineries as long as they remained under government ownership in an interview with TheCable.
He had remarked, “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.”
In response, Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, conveyed the President’s perspective. Ajayi stated, “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.”
Ajayi, speaking during a discussion titled ‘Analysing the First 100 Days of President Tinubu’ on Daily Trust, continued, “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 will rather rely on the judgment of the engineers who are working at the refinery. So, I think we should wait until December.”
President Tinubu had previously announced in August that the Port Harcourt petroleum refinery would commence production by December 2023 following the completion of the ongoing rehabilitation contract between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Italian firm, Maire Tecnimont SpA.
The revival of the refinery, if realized as promised, holds the potential to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on oil imports and foreign refineries.
NNPCL has been actively working towards the revival of the refineries, which were entirely shut down in 2021 and have struggled to produce fuel over the past decade.
Tinubu’s response underscores his administration’s commitment to addressing Nigeria’s energy challenges and enhancing the domestic refining capacity, highlighting the importance of relying on expert assessments in achieving these critical goals.
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