Reps discover Abuja spent N11tr in 13 years
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Abuja spent N11,349,583,186,313.40 on the four national refineries between 2010 and 2023 without producing a litre of refined petrol, according to a report by lawmakers who investigated the scam.
However, House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Ganiyu Johnson could not convince Deputy Speaker Ahmed Wase – who chaired House plenary – to consider the report.
Wase dismissed the recommendations of the committee as failing to address the main issues for which the panel was set up as well as not being far-reaching enough to change the situation.
In the report, the committee broke down the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries between 2010 and 2020, and from 2020 to 2023.
The report disclosed the following:
- Total cost of rehabilitation in the 13 years – N11,349,583,186,313.40
- Additional costs in other currencies – $592,976,050, €4,877,068.47 and £3,455,656.93
- Cost of rehabilitation projects – N42,646,596,313.40
- Deduction from the Federation Account for rehabilitation – N191,670,000,000
- Losses incurred by the refineries – N366,524,140,000
- Subsidy payments from 2010 to 2020 – N5,948,140,000,000
- Cost of running the refineries – N4,800,602,450,000
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Other discoveries
The PUNCH reports the committee said it also discovered:
“The refineries became unproductive from 2010, “making the following range of losses: Port Harcourt Refinery Company at 7.6 per cent losses to the tune of N132,526 from 2012; Warri Refinery at 6 per cent losses to the tune of N111.376bn from 2014; and Kaduna Refinery at 10 per cent losses to the tune of N122,621 from 2014.”
From 2010 to 2019, the refineries were performing “sub-optimally with an annual combined capacity of less than 30 per cent, therefore, in the year 2019 the NNPC [Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation] obtained executive approval and shut down the refineries for comprehensive rehabilitation to restore the plants to a maximum of 90 per cent nameplate company utilisation.
“The total losses from the non-functional refineries since the year 2010 are put at N366,524,140,000 only; that the total cost of operations and running the refineries from 2010-2020 is put at N4,800,602,450,000 only.
“Port Harcourt Refinery Company carried out rehabilitation projects over a period of seven years, ranging from 2013 to 2019 valued at about N12,161,237,811.61 only.
“Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company carried out rehabilitation projects over a period of six years, ranging from 2014 to 2019 valued at about N28,219,110,067.10.
“Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company also carried out rehabilitation works over the period under review valued at about N2,266,248,434.69.
“The total cost of rehabilitation for the three refineries based on the submissions of the NNPC from the year 2013 to 2019 is put at N42,646,596,313.40 only.
“Other project costs were reported in foreign currencies at KRPC such as USD43,672,537.56, EUR2,852,068.15 and GBP 3,455,656.93.
“SAIPEM Contracting Nigeria Limited was awarded a contract in 2017 by the NNPC for the Technical Plant Survey of Warri and Kaduna Refineries for the Contract Price of €2,025,000.32.
“The total value of the contract for the Technical Plant Survey of Warri and Kaduna refineries awarded to SAIPEM was €2,025,000.32 and the total sum of money received by SAIPEM is €1,822,500.29, while the total sum outstanding is €202,500.03.”
The report said the NNPC in 2016 obtained presidential approval of $2.1 billion for the rehabilitation of refineries to be funded over a three-year period; and the National Assembly (NASS) approved the rehabilitation of refineries to the tune of N100 billion (2020), N100 billion (2021), and N109.326 billion (2022).