Olusegun Obasanjo has received criticism from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his remarks on the Port Harcourt oil refinery in Rivers State.
According to LIB, Obasanjo denied claims made by the Tinubu administration that the Port Harcourt refinery would begin operations in December 2023 during an interview he gave to TheCable.
As long as they are owned by the government, Obasanjo believed, the nation’s refineries will never run effectively.
“Someone said Tinubu said refineries would operate by December.
The refineries wouldn’t operate, I informed the person.
When he was president, I received this information from Shell, which is the basis for this,” he had stated.
President Tinubu responded to Obasanjo’s remarks via his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, saying that since Obasanjo is not an engineer, he shouldn’t be making such statements.
“With all due respect, former President Olusegun Obasanjo is not an engineer.
The engineer employed by the refineries is not him.
“So, the engineers and the NNPC gave the president a report and they have said that it will work by December this year,” he had said while speaking on Daily Trust space themed: “Analyzing the First 100 Days of President Tinubu.”.
About four more months remain.
I’ll say this with all due respect to the former president, who is a wise elder and our father, and with the understanding that what he said represents his own personal viewpoint.
I’ll put more trust in the engineers’ expertise who are employed at the refinery.
So, I believe we should hold off until December.
“.
After the ongoing rehabilitation contract between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Italian company, Maire Tecnimont SpA, is finished, President Tinubu had stated in August that the Port Harcourt petroleum refinery would begin producing by December 2023.
If Tinubu follows through on his promise to revive the refinery, Nigeria will be less dependent on importing oil and using foreign refineries.
The refineries were completely shut down in 2021 after producing little to no fuel for the previous ten years, according to NNPCL, who has been working to modernize them.
