According to PREMIUM TIMES, the Nigerian Senate
has summoned the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to examine the
conditions of the nation’s four refineries.
The
decision was taken following a motion urging the Senate to act in respect of
incessant fuel tanker tragedies on Nigeria’s highways.
The
motion was introduced by Gbenga Ashafa representing Lagos East senatorial
district.
He
recalled that there had been repeated fuel tankers crashes in the past weeks.
“Within
the space of one week, four fuel tankers accidents that occurred in two major
cities in Nigeria that claimed lives and destroying properties.
“The
first incident which claimed over 70 lives at Upper Iweka Onitsha and
Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos,” the lawmaker said.
Mr.
Ashafa said if the refineries were functional, all the tragedies would have
been avoided.
“If
our refineries were functional, all the tankers in Nigeria would not have
businesses coming to Lagos to lift fuel as refineries in port-Harcourt, Warri
and Kaduna would have taken care of that,” he said.
The
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the Senate will examine the situation
with the refineries especially those under construction.
The
NNPC had said Saturday that Nigeria’s four refineries are set to roll back to
life in July.
Ohi
Alegbe, the spokesperson for the NNPC said that the ongoing
phased maintenance of the refineries was nearing completion and that the
facilities would soon commence production.
“I
think by July, the four refineries should begin to work,” Mr. Alegbe said.
He
said the two refineries in Port Harcourt are scheduled to begin to receive
crude next week while those in Warri and Port Harcourt would follow shortly
after.
Mr.
Alegbe said the turnaround maintenance of the refineries, which he said began
in November 2014, was being undertaken by NNPC’s in-house engineers.
“We
had to resort to in-house engineers after the original builders of the
refineries, who were called in to do the job, kept coming up with outrageous
bills,” he said.
He
said parts of the problems with the Port Harcourt refineries had to do with
lack of electricity to power the facility.
“We
have now installed a mini power plant to solve that problem,” the NNPC
spokesperson said.
The
return of the refineries will however not put an end to fuel importation in the
country.
Mr.
Alegbe said even when the four refineries operate at full capacity, they would
only be able to cumulatively refine 19 million litres of petrol per day.
Nigeria,
he said, consumes 40 litres of petrol per day.
“As
you can see, that leaves us with a balance of 21 litres per day, and we will
still have to rely on importation to make up for that deficit,” Mr. Alegbe
said.
Nigeria
has for years depend on importation for its entire energy needs.
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