The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the commencement of operations at the Port Harcourt refinery as the best response to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent condemnation of efforts to revive government-owned refineries.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, the group said President Bola Tinubu and his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari have proved Obasanjo wrong by bringing the refinery back to life.
It read in part, “Like many Nigerians, we woke up to the good news that one of the two refineries in Port Harcourt has finally begun operations, three years after the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari approved a $1.5bn contract for a three-phase rehabilitation of the refineries.
“For us, it was a time to heave a sigh of relief after several missed deadlines set by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the completion of the first phase of the rehabilitation process, which was to have been completed in 24 months.
“It was in the midst of this that the former President who had initially sold the refineries before his predecessor, the late President Umaru Yar Adua over-ruled him, used a media interview to berate Buhari and Tinubu for toeing the path of rehabilitating the refineries.
“In his usual omniscient characteristic, showing that he knows all, President Obasanjo was quoted as berating President Tinubu’s efforts to get the refineries working but today, he has been proved wrong as the first refinery began trucking out petroleum products.
“We can only imagine how ridiculous, or perhaps envious, former President Obasanjo would have felt if he had mustered the courage to watch footage of hundreds of trucks moving petroleum products out of the newly rehabilitated 60,000 barrels per day refinery.
“While Obasanjo’s successor stopped the action he took on the refineries, Buhari proceeded with steps to revitalize them, and today, Nigerians are seeing the benefits of continuity in government. We were therefore not surprised that President Tinubu, in his reaction, singled out his predecessor for praise for initiating comprehensive rehabilitation of all the refineries.
“For President Tinubu to have continued where his predecessor stopped showed how firmly he has his eyes on the ball, and this, we dare say, is in line with his 80-page campaign document, which outlined plans to ensure that all the refineries are functional.
“Obasanjo was not the only cynic as many other politically exposed persons joined in castigating APC and President Tinubu with stories of billions of dollars spent on the nation’s refineries.
“But what they deliberately left out is that it was in the PDP years that importation of petroleum products became more institutionalized when all the refineries stopped working.
“And now that the first of two Port Harcourt refineries have commenced operations, we join the President in demanding speedy completion of rehabilitation work on the other one as well as the Warri and Kaduna refineries.
TMSG urged NNPCL to do all that is required to ensure that the refinery remains functional.
