Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu to account for the billions of naira committed to Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, accusing the Federal Government of shifting responsibility for their challenges to previous administrations.
Atiku’s criticism followed President Tinubu’s renewed assurance that the country’s refineries would resume operations.
Tinubu gave the assurance when he received the Executive President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Salimon Oladiti, and members of the union at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
However, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that the Tinubu administration could no longer blame inherited liabilities after more than three years in office.
The former vice president based his criticism on financial figures contained in the records of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which he said showed that the combined obligations of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries to NNPCL increased from about N4.52 trillion in 2023 to N8.67 trillion in 2024.
He said the approximately N4.15 trillion increase in one year raised serious questions about the government’s financial commitments to the facilities and what Nigerians received in return.
Atiku, who is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, also cited a recent admission by NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, that the state-owned refineries had been operating at what he described as a “monumental loss”.
Ojulari had disclosed in February 2026, during a fireside chat at the Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja, that NNPCL halted operations after an internal assessment found low utilisation, a lack of a credible path to profitability and continued financial losses.
Atiku said the admission contradicted the Federal Government’s earlier presentation of the refinery rehabilitation programme.
He recalled that NNPCL announced on November 26, 2024, that the old 60,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt Refinery had resumed processing and that trucks had begun loading petrol, diesel and kerosene.
According to the company at the time, the facility was operating at 70 per cent of installed capacity, with plans to increase utilisation to 90 per cent.
“President Tinubu cannot have it both ways,” Atiku said, accusing the administration of taking credit for the refinery’s reported restart before later describing the facilities as inherited liabilities.
He challenged the Federal Government to explain how the combined obligations of the three refineries rose by more than N4 trillion in a year and what Nigerians received from the expenditure.
“Nigerians deserve answers,” Atiku said, questioning where the money went, where the expected products and savings were, and why the refinery previously celebrated by the government was no longer operating.
The former vice president said the situation was particularly troubling given the high cost of petroleum products and described the continued accumulation of liabilities around the refineries as an “unforgivable failure of stewardship”.
He also argued that the funds committed to the facilities could have been deployed to critical sectors including universities, hospitals, roads, electricity and potable water.
Meanwhile, Nigerians from different sectors have expressed mixed reactions to the Federal Government’s plan to revive the state-owned refineries.
Former President of the Nigerian Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE), Adekunle Makinde, called for a comprehensive technical and economic assessment of the facilities before additional funds are committed.
Makinde said the government needed to establish whether the ageing refineries could be maintained and operated sustainably before deciding between rehabilitating the existing plants and constructing new ones.
Former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Badagry Branch, Mohammed Shodipo, expressed reservations about continued investment in the old refineries.
He argued that successive administrations had spent substantial amounts on rehabilitation without achieving sustainable results, suggesting that government should instead consider directing resources towards new refinery projects.
However, Lagos Headquarters Scout Commissioner for Grassroots Development, Mustapha Ademola, welcomed the plan to revive the facilities, saying Nigerians wanted the refineries to work.
He nevertheless called for transparency and accountability, urging the government to disclose the amount already spent on each refinery, their current condition, proposed rehabilitation costs, contractors, timelines and independently verifiable milestones.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of Abolusodun Nigeria Ltd., Taoheed Asimi, advocated greater private-sector involvement in the management of the refineries.
Asimi proposed that the Federal Government consider selling a 50 per cent stake in the facilities to a Chinese company or another multinational operating in Nigeria, allowing the government to retain the remaining 50 per cent while benefiting from private-sector expertise and investment.
The debate comes amid decades of unsuccessful attempts by successive administrations to restore Nigeria’s state-owned refineries to sustainable production, with questions continuing to centre on rehabilitation costs, operational efficiency and commercial viability.
