A civil society coalition under the umbrella of the Coalition for Oil Sector Reforms and Accountability has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to publicly disclose details of funds previously spent on refinery rehabilitation projects before entering into new operational agreements with foreign partners.
The group made the demand on Friday during a press briefing in Abuja, where its National President, Tekeme Umukoro, raised concerns over what he described as a longstanding pattern of opacity, weak accountability and repeated spending on refinery projects that have yet to deliver sustainable results.
The renewed call comes in the wake of the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between NNPCL and two Chinese firms — Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng Industrial Park Operation and Management Company Limited — for the rehabilitation, management and operation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
Addressing journalists, Umukoro said the new arrangement had once again brought to the fore unresolved questions surrounding earlier refinery rehabilitation efforts funded with public resources.
He noted that despite repeated government announcements and the commitment of substantial sums over the years, Nigeria continues to depend heavily on imported refined petroleum products, a development he said has placed pressure on the economy and raised legitimate concerns among citizens.
According to him, the country can no longer afford what he described as a cycle of wasteful spending, limited transparency and recurring promises that fail to translate into efficient domestic refining capacity.
Umukoro said the Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation project alone reportedly consumed more than 1.5 billion dollars, while additional billions of dollars were committed to the Warri and Kaduna refineries under previous administrations.
He argued that with such enormous public expenditure, Nigerians have a right to know what outcomes were achieved, what level of work was completed and whether the investments produced measurable improvements in refining operations.
The coalition therefore demanded a comprehensive public disclosure of all previous refinery rehabilitation contracts.
It said such disclosure should include the identities of contractors engaged for the projects, the financial terms of the contracts, milestones recorded during implementation, performance evaluations and the status of audit reports connected to the expenditure.
According to the group, it is unacceptable for new agreements to be announced without first accounting for earlier investments funded by taxpayers.
Umukoro stressed that public confidence in the management of Nigeria’s oil assets can only be restored through openness, verifiable reporting and clear institutional accountability.
The coalition also expressed concern over recent comments credited to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, indicating that the company may be moving away from the traditional contractor-led rehabilitation approach toward a technical equity partnership model.
While acknowledging that new partnership structures may offer operational advantages, the group said the public deserves a clear explanation of how the proposed model will work, the nature of equity participation involved and the long-term implications for Nigeria’s refining industry.
It said Nigerians must be adequately informed about whether the new arrangement would strengthen local refining capacity, improve efficiency and reduce the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products.
As part of its demands, the coalition called for the immediate release of all audit reports relating to refinery rehabilitation spending from 2015 to date.
It also urged the National Assembly to convene a public hearing to examine refinery-related expenditure over the past decade, review the implementation of past contracts and determine whether value was derived from the funds committed.
The group further appealed to President Bola Tinubu to direct relevant government institutions and oversight agencies to undertake a comprehensive review of all previous refinery rehabilitation agreements.
According to Umukoro, such a review has become necessary not only to establish accountability but also to guide future policy decisions in the sector.
He maintained that Nigeria’s oil industry urgently requires working refineries, transparent governance structures and stronger accountability mechanisms capable of restoring public trust.
He added that without full disclosure of previous spending and outcomes, new agreements may continue to raise questions rather than inspire confidence among citizens and stakeholders in the petroleum sector.
