By Ayo Ayodele
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured that Nigeria’s moribund refineries will be revived, saying the Federal Government is pursuing a comprehensive reset and restructuring aimed at making the facilities productive and profitable.
Tinubu gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja when he received the national executive of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), led by its National President, Comrade Salimon Akanni Oladiti, at the State House.
The President said the refineries would not be allowed to waste away considering the huge investments made in them over the years.
He explained that the government would adopt an evidence-based approach involving detailed research, technical assessments and restructuring to identify and address the structural, operational, financial and managerial challenges affecting the facilities.
“The refineries that you mentioned are going to come back to work; we’re just building a very firm, resetting, and structural reworking of the economy of it,” Tinubu said.
He stressed that merely seeing flames and smoke from a refinery should not be interpreted as evidence that it is functioning effectively, noting that the facilities must operate profitably and deliver the value for which they were built.
Tinubu also said he had accepted responsibility for fixing the assets and liabilities inherited from previous administrations.
“No matter what has happened in the years past, it’s now my responsibility as president to fix it and make it work for the greatest common good of our population,” he said.
The President further assured NUPENG that constitutional issues surrounding the implementation of local government autonomy were being reviewed, with the possibility of fine-tuning the process.
He also promised greater inclusion for NUPENG in the implementation of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), while challenging the union to ensure that the benefits of the initiative reach ordinary commuters.
Tinubu recalled his relationship with the late former NUPENG president, Frank Kokori, and commended the union for its contribution to Nigeria’s democratic development.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, praised NUPENG for recognising what he described as positive outcomes of the Tinubu administration’s reform agenda.
Idris said the acknowledgement by the influential oil and gas workers’ union had helped reduce friction between organised labour and the government.
He cited the removal of the fuel subsidy and ongoing infrastructure development as major reforms, noting that NUPENG’s recognition of the changes was significant.
Earlier, NUPENG President Oladiti commended Tinubu for removing the fuel subsidy, describing the decision as courageous and saying it had helped save the country from decades of financial drain and depletion of national reserves.
He also praised the administration’s investment in road infrastructure, particularly the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway.
Oladiti, however, urged the President to sustain efforts to revive the nation’s refineries, arguing that functional refineries would strengthen energy security, reduce dependence on imported petroleum products and create more employment opportunities for Nigerians.
The NUPENG leaders subsequently decorated Tinubu as the Grand Patron of the union.