KEY POINTS

• PETROAN warns of refinery rehabilitation delay.
• Northern groups have filed a lawsuit against the CFO of NNPC regarding the stalled projects.
• Stakeholders urge Tinubu to intervene immediately.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is facing a fresh storm over its troubled refinery rehabilitation program, as marketers and northern advocacy groups accuse its top leadership of negligence, slow delivery, and skewed priorities.

On Monday, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) charged that the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, has failed to take meaningful steps to revive the Port Harcourt refinery—four months into his tenure. The refinery, shut down on May 24 for a 30-day repair program, remains idle.

PETROAN warns over refinery rehabilitation delay

PETROAN’s Eastern Zone chairman, Sunny Nkpe, said he visited the Old Port Harcourt Refinery last weekend and found a “disturbingly slow pace” of work.

He added that contractors on-site claimed they were owed for over a year, halting progress on repairs that were “90 percent complete” before Ojulari assumed office.

Nkpe accused the NNPC boss of giving private refineries an unfair edge by stalling the state-owned plant. “Thousands of tanker drivers and marketers are out of business,” he said, warning that the shutdown is hurting economic activity in Aba, Enugu, Makurdi, and other cities that depend on the facility.

Northern groups take CFO to court

The controversy deepened as two northern advocacy groups—the Arewa Community for Empowerment and Development and the Arewa Consultative Youth Movement—filed suit in Kaduna. The suit targets NNPC’s Chief Financial Officer, Dapo Segun.

They allege he played a direct and supervisory role in the failed rehabilitation of all three state-owned refineries. They also accuse him of involvement in the controversial OVH Energy acquisition.

The plaintiffs are demanding a court order compelling the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate, arrest, and prosecute Segun.

They accuse the Tinubu administration and security agencies of “selective justice” for allegedly shielding him while probing former northern executives over the same projects.

Calls mount for accountability in refinery rehabilitation

Nigeria’s refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna have been largely dormant for years despite multi-billion-dollar rehabilitation contracts. In 2021, officials announced a \$1.5 billion plan for Port Harcourt, yet production remains far from optimal.

Nkpe urged President Tinubu to step in directly, warning that vested interests are sabotaging the project. “Economic activities boomed during the seven months it last operated,” he said. “Prices were stable, competition was healthy, and communities thrived.”

Efforts to get a comment from NNPC were unsuccessful; the company has no spokesperson, and phone lines listed on its website went unanswered.