A former Federal lawmaker who represented Ife Federal Constituency in the 7th Assembly at the House of Representatives, Hon. Rotimi Makinde has commended the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for reviving the Port Harcourt refinery on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.
The refinery, with an installed production capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, is expected to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products, enhance economic sovereignty and contribute to the stabilisation of fuel prices.
Makinde made these remarks on a live programme titled, SEKITARIA ARA ILU anchored by Oodua Fm 106.9 located in Ogun state.
The Ife born politician further noted that the refinery’s capacity to load 200 trucks daily with locally refined products was a testament to the dedication and commitment of the federal government and the NNPC for revitalising critical national infrastructure that has long been dormant.
Continuing the astute politician stated, “Even as we should see the coming to life of Port Harcourt Refinery as a giant stride of the present government led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed, however ensuring the management, regular maintenance and security of the facility must become very imperative to the nation having learned from the mistakes of past decades in petroleum industry value chain. The government must step forward to ensure they see to the storage and the distribution of the petroleum products as topmost agenda to make meaningful impact.
“Meanwhile, as I have said some years back, I would like to reecho for the umpteenth time that the Federal government and NNPCL must redouble their efforts to ensure that the nation’s pipelines, which are the networks that can make products available to every corner of the country must be reengineered across the country and accordingly protected. These depots are the country must also not go to oblivion. On the part of the public, we must be ready to join hands with the government by ensuring that the protection of NNPC properties becomes a collective responsibility.
“I make bold to say by refining crude oil domestically, Nigeria can implement more stringent environmental regulations and practices, ultimately leading to a reduction in the carbon footprint associated with transporting fuel across borders. The operationalisation of this refinery not only promises to alleviate many pressing issues in the country bothering on hardship and hunger but also serves as a beacon of hope for economic revitalization and job creation,” Makinde added.
