LAFIA, Nigeria – Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nassarawa State has voiced a controversial opinion, claiming that Nigeria’s government under former President Muhammadu Buhari spent more than the $19 billion used to build the new Dangote Refinery merely maintaining the country’s existing, non-operational refineries.
Nigeria’s defunct refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri have long been the subject of scrutiny from experts, who predict the newly operational Dangote Refinery will be a transformative presence in the sector.
“In the eight years of Buhari’s administration, more money was spent on fixing the refineries than the $19 billion that Dangote spent on building a refinery one and a half times the size of our three combined,” Governor Sule said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, June 8, 2023.
Governor Sule believes Nigeria’s subsidy payments are the consequence of its non-operational refineries.
“Our three refineries in Nigeria today have a total of 450,000 barrels per day, Dangote is 650,000. He spent $19 billion on building it.
We spent, not building a new one, but in maintaining these refineries more than $19 billion in eight years, yet they have not been maintained,” he explained.
The Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest, officially launched in May 2023, just days before the end of Buhari’s administration.
The Nassarawa State governor also expressed frustration over the intricate process of maintaining the existing refineries, with their disparate components contributing to the complexity and cost.
Governor Sule suggested that an ideal solution would have been to focus major funding on completely refurbishing one refinery before moving on to the others, lamenting, “So, zero work is done.
These are the true realities of what is happening, and that is why none of the refineries is working. We have not really managed this thing well.”
As Nigeria grapples with the issue of its refineries and the incoming impact of the Dangote Refinery, Governor Sule’s comments put into perspective the daunting financial and logistical challenges ahead.
