Despite the strong promises by the Bola Tinubu administration – that the nation’s refineries would begin operations before the end of December 2023 – it seems that Nigerians still have to endure a long wait to witness the fulfillment of those promises, LEADERSHIP reports.
The timeline came and went and not a drop of crude was refined at the two designated refineries, the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).
As a result of this failure to meet the much-advertised deadline, both the minister of state for petroleum (oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, and the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, are said to be under pressure from the Presidency.
The Presidency was said to be furious that Lokpobiri and Kyari could not keep their word that the two refining petrochemical plants would resume full production of petroleum products, especially petrol, by December 2023.
It was learnt that the Presidency felt embarrassed that it could not keep its promise to Nigerians that local refining of petroleum products by the two plants would commence by the last quarter of 2023.
This newspaper learnt that the unanticipated development has caused great discomfort and annoyance in the Presidency.
