The Nigerian Senate has unanimously agreed to empower its Committee on Downstream Petroleum to conduct a thorough investigation into every contract awarded for the revitalization of state-owned refineries between 2010 and 2023.
This decision was made on Tuesday following a motion titled “Urgent Need to investigate the various Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) Projects of Nigerian Refineries to uncover waste and prevent further squandering of scarce public resources,” sponsored by Senator Karimi Sunday Steve, representing Kogi West.
Expressing their deep concern over what they perceive as deliberate sabotage of the Federal Government’s efforts to revive the country’s refineries, the Senate highlighted that an astonishing N11.35 trillion had been spent on maintenance without yielding any productive results.
Between 2010 and the present date, Nigeria is estimated to have expended N11.35 trillion (N11,349,583,186,313.40), excluding other costs in different currencies such as $592,976,050.00, 4,877,068.47 euros, and 3,455,656.93 pounds, on refurbishing the refineries, which continue to remain non-functional.
The Senate also emphasized that the Federal Government has spent over N6 trillion Naira between 2010 and 2023 on fuel subsidies, attributed to the country’s insufficient refining capacity. Remarkably, this amount is nearly double the expenditure on rehabilitating the refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri within the period of 2010 to 2022.
In addition to this, the Senate urgently called upon security agencies to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Otukpo bank robbery attack that occurred on Friday, October 20. Tragically, this incident resulted in the loss of eight lives, including four police personnel.
The Senate seeks an explanation for the lack of intelligence and preparedness exhibited by the police on the day of the attack and emphasizes the need for a thorough inquiry into the matter.
