Host community makes stunning revelations about Port Harcourt Refinery
All that need to be known about the recently celebrated Port Harcourt Refinery’s success resuming operations may not have come as updates emerged from host community on Thursday.
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The DEFENDER reports that the Bola Tinubu’s Government and supporters of the President had set both mainstream and social media agog when they louded the sound of production take off of the refinery with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), confidently, announcing to the nation that about 200 trucks would begin to lift Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol from the oil processing refinery afternoon of same day.
On Wednesday, petroleum marketers who lifted the products on Tuesday told the nation the government’s refinery sold fuel to them at N1,045 people litre, which was N75 costlier than privately owned Dangote Refinery’s PMS of N970.
However, Nigerians woke up to be told on Thursday November 28, 2024 that not only that the fuel loaded from the newly rehabilitated Port Harcourt Refinery were not freshly refined but products left in the storage tank of the facility in the last three years, also the facility was only able to supply six trucks against the 200 trucks the NNPCL announced to Nigerians.
Secretary of the Alesa community stakeholders that is the host community, Timothy Mgbere, made these revelations while featuring in an Arise Television interview, monitored in Lagos by The DEFENDER on Thursday.
According to him, the government’s refinery allegedly only loaded six trucks on Tuesday despite telling Nigerians that 200 trucks would be picked up from the refinery daily.
Alesa, one of the 10 major communities in Eleme, Rivers State, is the host community of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
On Tuesday, the 60,000-capacity Port Harcourt Refinery resumed operations after years of inactivity, drawing initial praise from Nigerians and industry stakeholders.
The NNPCL said the newly rehabilitated complex of the old Port Harcourt refinery, which had been revamped and upgraded with modern equipment, is operating at a refining capacity of 70 percent of its installed capacity.
NNPCL added that diesel and Pour Fuel Oil would be the highest output from the refinery, with a daily capacity of 1.5 million litres and 2.1 million litres, respectively.
This is followed by a daily output of Straight-Run Gasoline (Naphtha) blended into 1.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), 900,000 litres of kerosene, and low-pour fuel oil of 2.1 million litres.
It was stated that about 200 trucks of petrol would be released into the Nigerian market daily.
But speaking during the interview, the Alesa community secretary described the ceremony held as a “party”, stressing that the full units of the old complex are not functional.
He said, ” The Port Harcourt refinery, and by extension, the Port Harcourt depot, happens to be the mainstay of the Alesa community economy, the economic activities emanating from the operations of these depots means a lot to us as a community people, but as it were, now, I don’t think it’s a cause for celebration yet, because what we are having in the media space is different from what we have on the ground.
“I can tell you on authority as a community person, that what happened on Tuesday was just a mere show at the Port Harcourt depot,
“A mere show in the sense that the Port Harcourt refinery, we call it area five, that is the old refinery, is merely in skeletal operation.
“When I say skeletal, I mean that some units of the refinery were recently brought up and are running, but not the entire unit of the old refinery is functional, as we speak.
“I will give them the credit that at least they have started something, but not to say, according to the Head of Corporate Communication of the NNPC limited, Femi Soneye, like it is in the media that they are already producing 1.4m barrels per day. That’s not the case. That’s not true.
“It’s a very big, I don’t want to use the word lie, but as an agency that is holding the oil industry on trust for Nigerians, they shouldn’t put out some of this information that is not true.”
He added, The true picture of what happened on Tuesday is that the NNPC has been under pressure to televise to Nigerians that everything is okay and then that the old refinery has started functioning.
“I can tell you that the GMD, or the CEO of the refinery, was in Port Harcourt since Monday; the other MDs were also in Port Harcourt. The MD of Port Harcourt refinery and those heading the operations department didn’t sleep through the night of Monday to Tuesday because of this whole event they had on Tuesday.
“What is the true picture? The Old Port Harcourt refinery is built with its utilities, different from the new complex. The tank farm that is servicing the Old Port Harcourt refinery has a different loading gantry at the depot.’
He added that NNPCL only dispatched six trucks on Tuesday, relying solely on the existing stock at the Port Harcourt Refinery.
He further stressed that the refinery is not producing 1.4m barrels of litres of petrol per day and urged the NNPCL to stop putting out false information to deceive Nigerians.
Continuing, he said, “The party they had on Tuesday was held at the new loading gantry that is directly connected to the new refinery. And so, how does that work? It is impossible.
“They went there because the storage facility for the old refinery had some stock, old stock that has been there for over three years.
“And so what they had, they released that stock, and then loaded six trucks and then televised it to Nigerians that it is the production from the old refinery. That’s not true.
“And so I like Nigerians to know the truth, but they don’t need to believe me, because Nigerians, no matter how you paint the true pictures to them, they get sentimental. They get tribal. They want to whip some sentiment and all that the product that was loaded. But let it be on record that it was only six trucks that they used to calibrate the new loading gantry. The product was not a new refined product from the old refinery.”
Uche Diala reacts
In the meantime, All Progressives Congress (APC) member and public affairs analyst, Dr. Uche Diala, has reacted to the allegations asking the NNPCL to deny it or it will otherwise be taken as the truth and he posted video in which the allegations were broadcast.
In his post titled, “NNPCL NEEDS TO RESPOND TO THIS” via his verified Facebook timeline in Thursday, Diala said, “I don’t know who this individual is, but he spoke with so much confidence on national television.
“The NNPCL needs to clearly respond to his claims and allegations in the interest of transparency.
“We owe the public the truth and nothing but the truth, even if it is unpalatable.
“That’s the way to build and maintain trust and reduce skepticism amongst the citizens.
“On our part, let’s not just get angry and throw angry words, let’s dilligently ask the hard questions and relentlessly demand answers without being distracted.
“Otherwise the truth and everything else would be lost in the cacophony of voices and the confusion of attack and defence and emotional blackmail,” said the analyst.
