Former Vice-President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to stop blaming previous administrations for the challenges facing Nigeria’s refineries and account for the resources committed to the facilities under his government.
Atiku said the Tinubu administration could no longer attribute the problems of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries solely to inherited liabilities, arguing that the government had itself invested heavily in their rehabilitation and publicly celebrated their reported return to operations.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku cited NNPC financial records which, according to him, showed that the combined obligations of the three refineries to the national oil company rose from about N4.52 trillion at the end of 2023 to N8.67 trillion by the end of 2024.
He described the reported increase of more than N4 trillion in one year as a development that required explanations from the Federal Government.
Atiku also recalled the November 2024 announcement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) that the rehabilitated Port Harcourt refinery had resumed operations at 70 per cent capacity, which the government presented as a major achievement.
He argued that the administration could not claim credit for the refineries when their operations appeared successful and subsequently shift responsibility to previous governments when problems emerged.
According to Atiku, the situation became more concerning following reports that NNPC management had acknowledged that the refineries were operating at significant losses.
He consequently demanded answers on how the funds committed to the facilities were spent and what Nigerians had received in return.
“If the combined obligations of these refineries jumped by more than N4 trillion in 2024 alone, what exactly did Nigerians receive in return? Where did the money go? Where are the products? Where are the savings Nigerians were promised?” he asked.
Atiku said the refinery situation was particularly troubling because Nigerians continued to pay high prices for petrol despite the substantial public resources committed to increasing domestic refining capacity.
He argued that the resources tied up in the refineries could have been used to address critical infrastructure deficits in education, healthcare, roads, electricity and other sectors.
The former vice-president accused the Tinubu administration of celebrating projects before they delivered tangible results and subsequently blaming previous governments when challenges emerged.
“You cannot spend three years claiming credit for everything that appears to work and blaming your predecessors for everything that fails. Leadership does not work that way,” he said.
Atiku further argued that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration should be judged on its own record rather than continuing to rely on inherited challenges as an explanation for current problems.
He described the refinery controversy as symbolic of what he called the administration’s broader failure to translate huge public expenditure into tangible benefits for Nigerians.
“President Tinubu’s scorecard after more than three years is increasingly a story of fire and smoke — enormous expenditure, extravagant announcements and very little Nigerians can hold in their hands,” Atiku said.
He urged the President to take responsibility for the performance of the refineries and provide Nigerians with full details of the funds spent, the work carried out and the current operational status of the facilities.
“Mr President, stop blaming your predecessors. After more than three years, you are no longer merely managing inherited liabilities. You are creating your own,” Atiku said.
