The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the reopening of the Warri Refinery as an unexpected new year gift from the President Bola Tinubu administration to Nigerians.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, the group said it was a pleasant surprise that the first phase of the rehabilitation of the 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery was completed without a fuss.
It read in part: “Coming within a few weeks of the old 60,000 bpd Port Harcourt refinery going on stream in November, not many Nigerians expected that the 125, 000 barrels a day Warri Refinery would be restarted soon especially after several missed deadlines on the Port Harcourt plant.
“This is why, like many Nigerians, we were surprised to hear another positive development from the effort initiated by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who in 2021 took the first step towards the complete overhaul of all four government-owned refineries.
“It is easy to recall how several sceptics, particularly politically exposed persons, accused the then President of going on a wild goose chase while others claimed that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was simply setting funds aside for the 2023 election under the guise of rehabilitating refineries which they claimed were dead.
“But today, the wisdom of millions of Nigerians in retaining APC in power after President Buhari’s two-term in office, has been proved right with the manner President Bola Tinubu ensured that two of the 4 refineries began operations within his first 18 months in office.
“This, for us, is no mean feat especially as the first two refineries had laid prostate for 16 perfidious years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administrations spending humongous millions of dollars on suspicious Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) that never turned anything around but only left Nigerians more helpless and hopeless.
“We recall that on assuming office President Tinubu had vowed to not only complete what his predecessor started, but to also ensure that Nigeria becomes a net exporter of petroleum products but naysayers including a former President were dismissive of him.
“Only recently, some people even claimed in the media that Nigeria had wasted a combined sum of $3 billion to overhaul refineries that had not produced a drop of petroleum products.
“While we acknowledge that the Warri refinery is not 100 per cent complete, we remind Nigerians that not many people can remember the last time the plant produced AGO (diesel), Kerosene and naphtha which are now being produced by the Refinery.
“So coming at the dawn of a new year, we urge Nigerians to see the positive development as a new year gift which has set the tone for greater gifts to Nigerians on the watch of President Bola Tinubu.
“We hereby join eager Nigerians to urge the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to ensure accelerated repair works on the Kaduna Refinery and the 150,000 bpd refinery in Port Harcourt in order to bolster Nigeria’s status as Africa’s leading refiner of petroleum products.
TMSG is convinced that the Bola Tinubu administration will take further steps to ensure that the refineries are in safe hands this time to fully actualize the vision of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
