One petroleum product marketer, Dappa Jubobaraye, has said that the inauguration of the Port Harcourt Refining Company was merely a camouflage to deceive Nigerians.
According to him, the refinery stopped working less than a month after the inauguration of the 60,000-barrel-per-day production capacity plant by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.
He expressed concern that many critical preparations had not been completed prior to the inauguration, citing issues such as inadequate planning and an intention to deceive as reasons.
“It was intended to deceive Nigerians that the refinery is working, and that is why they came up with that show. That day, only about four or five trucks loaded products,” he said.
“The loading meter was not calibrated yet before they started operation. Of the 18 loading arms at the bay, only three are working, and they have leakages. So, they have been trying to load three, four, five trucks, sometimes 10, just to show that they are working when they are not,” he added.
“Since Mele Kyari came and left, the independent marketers have yet to load products from this depot because the NNPC is yet to fix prices for them to buy tickets and start loading products. They are only loading them to their own mega stations,” he noted.
Speaking about the shutdown of refinery operations, one of the truck drivers stated, “It was Friday last week they loaded last. About 15 trucks or so loaded that day. Since then, not even a single truck has been loaded till now.”
“I don’t know. Nobody is giving us any information or telling us anything. Some trucks that were here have left. I’m just here because my director said I should wait a bit,” he added.