The Zonal Chairman of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), High Chief Sunny Nkpe, has expressed deep concern over the slow pace of rehabilitation at the Old Port Harcourt Refinery (Area 5), accusing the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, of failing to demonstrate the commitment needed to get the plant running.
Nkpe, who visited the refinery site last weekend on a fact-finding mission, said he was alarmed that, despite being shut down on May 24, 2025, for what was billed as a 30-day repair, the facility remains idle. Speaking to journalists at the Port Harcourt International Airport en route to Abuja, he alleged that the NNPCL GCEO had not visited the facility in his four months in office — a development Nkpe described as a sign of “lack of passion” for its revival.
According to him, contractors on the project have been owed for over a year without funding, even though repairs on the cracking and blending units (Units 12 and 14) were near completion before Ojulari assumed office.
Nkpe accused the NNPCL leadership of deliberately stalling the process to give private refineries a monopoly and enable them to exploit Nigerians with high petroleum prices.
He said consultations were ongoing with key industry players, including the Industrial Motor Branch (IMB) and Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branches of NUPENG, the national presidents of PETROAN, IPMAN, NUGASAN, and Sutakep, among others, to agree on a collective response. He lamented that thousands of tanker drivers and petroleum workers had lost their jobs due to the refinery’s inactivity.
“The Port Harcourt refinery is central to petroleum distribution across Nigeria, including Aba, Enugu, Makurdi, and other key states,” Nkpe said. “Reviving it will stabilize prices and reduce the dominance of private refineries.”
Nkpe called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene, warning that the delays appear “orchestrated by vested interests” bent on sabotaging the president’s vision.
He noted that during the seven months the refinery operated recently, economic activities in the host communities improved, petty traders thrived, jobs were created, and fuel prices stabilized.
While expressing initial optimism over Ojulari’s appointment — citing his track record at Shell Oil Plc — Nkpe said he was “shocked” by the GCEO’s inability to deliver on a repair job initially slated for completion within 30 days.
Asked whether stakeholders might shut down the petroleum distribution network or join calls for the GCEO’s sack, Nkpe said a collective decision would be taken at the stakeholders’ forum. He stressed that while PETROAN supports the president’s reform agenda, it would not tolerate any attempt to frustrate the refinery’s revival.
