The Independent Petrol Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has criticised Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, for his repeated assurances that the Port Harcourt refinery would be completed. During a recent seminar in Abuja, Sylva claimed the refinery would be ready before the end of the second quarter of this year.
In a statement issued in Port Harbor on Thursday, IPMAN’s Rivers State chairman, Dr. Joseph Obele, described the minister’s promises as “one too many without result.” He noted that this was not the first time Sylva had made such a pledge and lamented that none of his promises had been fulfilled, suggesting the latest deadline would also be missed.
Obele argued that the federal government is not committed to repairing and operating the refineries, pointing out that Nigeria remains the only OPEC member without a functional refinery. The statement read in part:
“The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources promised Nigerians that the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations by December 2022, but he failed. He then promised the first quarter of 2023, and again he failed. Now he says the second quarter of 2023, and he will definitely fail. They are not committed to seeing the refinery functional. They are comfortable importing from the international market because they have shares in those foreign refineries.
It will take a corruption‑free government to make our refineries functional; then, and only then, will consistent fuel scarcity be a thing of the past and Nigerians be able to buy fuel for less than #100 per litre.”
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