Refineries will bounce back to work, Tinubu assures

By Wuddeama Manga/ABUJA// President Bola Tinubu has assured petroleum workers that Nigeria’s dormant state-owned refineries will eventually return to operation, but warned that merely producing smoke and flames would not mean the facilities had truly been revived.

Tinubu made the commitment on Thursday when he received the Executive President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Salimon Oladiti, and other union leaders at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Responding to concerns over the prolonged efforts to revive the country’s refineries, the President declared, “The refineries you mentioned are going to come back to work. We’re just building a very firm reset and structural reworking of the economy.”

He, however, stressed that the government would measure the success of the refineries by their profitability and productivity rather than simply restarting operations.

“Ordinary flame and smoke of a refinery doesn’t mean it’s working, until it’s profitable and yields the value for which it is built,” Tinubu said.

The President also called on owners and operators of vehicles and trucks converted to Compressed Natural Gas to ensure that the savings from cheaper fuel are passed on to commuters.

According to him, the benefits of CNG should not end up entirely in the pockets of vehicle owners while passengers continue to pay high fares.

Tinubu said the government would continue supporting the expansion of CNG adoption, noting that its spread had not yet reached the level he desired.

The President linked the government’s ability to fund major infrastructure projects to the economic reforms introduced since 2023.

He cited projects including the Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna, Abuja-Kano and Sokoto-Badagry road networks as examples of infrastructure benefiting from improved access to long-term funding.

Tinubu also recalled his previous meeting with petroleum workers at Akodo Resort in Lagos, where he said he had made his position on fuel subsidy clear.

He maintained that no industrial action would have forced his administration to restore petrol subsidy.

“You may strike all you want, but fuel subsidy will be gone,” Tinubu recalled telling the union at the time.

The President also said his administration would soon publish details of how the savings from subsidy removal have been utilised.

Defending the impact of his economic reforms, Tinubu rejected the argument that subsidy removal had only affected ordinary Nigerians negatively.

He pointed to regular salary payments to workers at the federal, state and local government levels, arguing that improved government finances also benefit ordinary Nigerians and businesses.

Tinubu further said he had accepted responsibility for both the assets and liabilities inherited from previous administrations and was determined to fix the economy.

“It’s my responsibility now, as President, to fix it and make it work for the largest common value of our population. I take responsibility for that, and I’m going to do it,” he said.

He urged Nigerians and organised labour to remain patient and continue supporting the government through the economic difficulties.

Earlier, NUPENG President Salimon Oladiti raised concerns about the persistent casualisation of workers in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas industry.

He said NUPENG and PENGASSAN had repeatedly engaged affected companies but had yet to achieve meaningful changes.

Oladiti asked Tinubu to intervene and stop the practice, while stressing that the union’s position was not a criticism of the Minister of Labour, Maigari Dingyadi, whom he described as supportive.

The union leader also commended the government’s road rehabilitation efforts and the ongoing moves to revive the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries through partnerships with Chinese firms.

He appealed to the Federal Government to extend the refinery revival strategy to Nigeria’s deteriorating petroleum depots.

Oladiti suggested that the depots could be handed over to private investors under an equity arrangement to improve their management and efficiency.

He also urged President Tinubu to encourage state governors to comply with the Supreme Court judgment affirming the financial autonomy of local governments.