Reps to probe N11.3 trillion spent on refinery maintenance

The House of Representatives has announced its plan to review the alleged N11.3 trillion expenditure by the Federal Government on Nigeria’s refineries’ turn-around maintenance between 2010 and 2020.  

Rep. Bamidele Salam, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, revealed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday. The aim is to address the increasing cost of petroleum products due to fuel subsidy removal. 

On the bad state of refineries 

Salam expressed concern over the deplorable state of Nigeria’s refineries despite the significant amount of money spent on their maintenance over the past decade. He emphasized that the era of squandering public funds on unproductive projects without consequences will soon come to an end. 

The committee also plans to conduct a thorough examination of the federal government’s accounts and those of the MDAs to uncover wastage, inefficiency, and corruption in the public sector. 

While optimistic about President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s efforts to revitalize the Nigerian economy, Salam stressed the importance of ensuring value for money in all public contracts and adherence to existing laws and regulations regarding budgeting, procurement, and job certification. 

He highlighted the sad state of many roads, bridges, and public infrastructure that have become dilapidated despite significant budget allocations in previous years. Salam also raised concerns about contractors abandoning projects after receiving full payments. 

Regarding the recent increase in public revenue due to the removal of subsidy and a merger of foreign exchange trading windows, he emphasized that these efforts would only have a positive impact if the government tackles wastage and strengthens its audit institutions. 

In the office of the accountant general 

Salam urged President Bola Tinubu to promptly appoint a substantive Auditor General for the Federation in accordance with the provisions of Section 86 of the Constitution. He explained that the absence of a substantive auditor-general for nearly a year has negatively affected Nigeria’s public finance and accountability ratings by global organizations. 

Backstory 

In a press release yesterday, President Bola Tinubu announced that maintenance work on the 210,000 bpd Port-Harcourt refinery will be completed and begin operation by December 2023. 

Contracts for the maintenance of the Kaduna and Warri according to the NNPCL cost around $1.4 billion while that of Port-Harcourt costs around. 

In total, around $2.7 billion were awarded for the repair of Nigeria’s four refineries.