President Bola Tinubu has assured that Nigeria’s refineries will be revived after a comprehensive structural and operational reset, stressing that the facilities must be made profitable and capable of delivering value to the country.
The President gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja when he received the National Executive Council of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), led by its National President, Salimon Akanni Oladiti, at the State House.
Tinubu said the Federal Government would adopt an evidence-based approach to addressing the challenges confronting the nation’s refineries, including detailed research, technical assessments, restructuring and improved management.
“The refineries that you mentioned are going to come back to work; we’re just building a very firm, resetting, and structural reworking of the economy of it. Ordinary flame and smoke of a refinery doesn’t mean that it’s working until it’s profitable and yields the value for which it is built,” the President said.
Tinubu said his administration had taken responsibility for addressing the challenges inherited from previous governments, regardless of how long the problems had persisted.
“I’m not a man who goes looking back on everything because I’ve accepted the assets and liabilities of my predecessor. No matter what has happened in the years past, it’s now my responsibility as president to fix it and make it work for the greatest common good of our population. I take responsibility for that, and we will do it,” he said.
Nigeria has four main state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt (Rivers State), Warri (Delta State), and Kaduna (Kaduna State), with a combined installed capacity of about 445,000 barrels per day.
For decades, the facilities underperformed due to poor maintenance, inefficiency, and pipeline vandalism. After long periods of inactivity, rehabilitation efforts in late 2024 and early 2025 led to the restart of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, though only at partial capacity.
In contrast, the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, commissioned in May 2023, has raised hopes of reducing fuel imports and boosting local refining.
