Port Harcourt Refinery’s Host Communities Accuse Officials Of Sabotage
The Eleme and Okrika communities, host to the Port Harcourt Refinery, in Rivers State, have decried the recent shutdown of the facility by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), barely a few months after it was revamped
The host communities at a media briefing in Port Harcourt suspect the shutdown to be an act of sabotage against national interest.
The communities under the aegis of HOSCOM Bulk Petroleum Retailers of the Port Harcourt Refinery expressed dismay, claiming that prior to the shutdown, there had been no significant progress in refinery operations.
They questioned the rationale behind shutting down a refinery that had not yet functioned at full capacity, less than a year after it resumed operations.
Chief Sunny Nkpe, Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the HOSCOM Bulk Petroleum Retailers, while briefing journalists, urged the NNPCL to adhere to the 30-day timeline they have given for maintenance or else the communities would hold them accountable if the refinery goes further back into operation.
He called on the federal government to immediately appoint a substantive managing director with strong technical expertise to oversee the refinery’s operations and to ensure the timely completion of the ongoing revamp.
“This refinery started steaming around October last year, and it was the reason why we gave our massive support. They say they are shutting down for repairs, which we don’t believe are taking place. We believe it is an attempt to shut it down like Warri and other refineries, so we are requesting that the 30-day shutdown be strictly adhered to, else the public would hold them responsible and the host communities would hold them responsible if anything goes wrong,” Nkpe warned.
The BOT chairman added: “We are requesting the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bayo Ojuleri, to quickly appoint a new managing director for the refinery so that the rehabilitation can go smoothly and set goals can be achieved.”
Nkpe also demanded the immediate removal of Mr Bayo Akinrule, the current Port Harcourt Refinery Coordinator, accusing him of sabotaging President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda.
He, however, expressed confidence in the contractor company handling the turnaround maintenance of the refinery and urged the government to provide sufficient funding to enable faster progress.
On his part, Dr Joseph Obele, Administrative Secretary of the organisation, expressed fears that the shutting down of the Port Harcourt Refinery could be a ploy to grant a monopoly to an unnamed private refinery in the country.
He warned that if the sector is allowed to be monopolised, Nigerians would buy fuel at very exorbitant prices.
“What we are doing here today is in no way a personal interest but the general interest of the people of Nigeria. We fear that the recent shutdown of the old Port Harcourt Refinery could be an orchestration to give a monopoly to a particular private refinery,” Obele said.
He recalled that as of June/July last year, when a particular private refinery started, fuel was selling for about 1,300 per litre, but as of October/November, when the old Port Harcourt Refinery came up, it came down to between ₦800 and ₦900.
“Nigerians will buy fuel for close to N2000 Naira per litre and this is the reason why we, the host communities, are saying the shutdown, as it has been designed to be 30 days, should not be exceeded because anything beyond the 30 days, a particular private refinery will take charge and sell petroleum products to Nigerians at outrages prices so I urged Nigerians to join this call,” he stated.
Also speaking, Chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers, IPMAN, Rivers State Unit, Pastor Tekena Ikpaki, warned that if the 30-day timeline is not adhered to, it could lead to artificial scarcity in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria at large.
He suggested that there could be phased maintenance of the facility as opposed to a complete shutdown so as not to stop the outflow of products, which he feared could trigger panic buying amongst consumers.
“We know that the refinery still has products in its reservoir, but if these reserves are depleted, on what product would the nation be sustained? So we are saying that if they say it’s 30 days, they should try to stay within the 30-day maintenance period because after this point, there may be artificial scarcity in town that would affect the marketers and the entire nation,” Ikpaki appealed.
Inimgba Emmanuel, Zonal Secretary, Eastern Zone IPMAN, and also a stakeholder from the community, said as host communities to the refinery, they won’t fold their arms and watch it go moribund like before, calling on the general public to be alert to the happenings within the refinery as the shutdown may signal another hike in prices of fuel.
“The community would no longer fold its arms and see things go wrong. This refinery was shut down, and we were in the wilderness for years, and that’s what we must look at.
“When this refinery was down completely, PMS market value was about N1200, but when it came up, prices started going down gradually. The public should be on the alert as well because this alarm we are raising is to protect the interest of the public, which includes marketers, retailers, communities and Nigerians at large,” Inimgba stated.
Port Harcourt Refinery’s Host Communities Accuse Officials Of Sabotage is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
