BEING A PRESS TEXT OF CONFERENCE ON THE ISSUES CONCERNING REHABILITATION PROJECT OF PORT HARCOURT REFINERY BY HUMANITIES WELFARE AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE AND OTHER CIVIL SOCIETY COALITION ON THE 12TH AUGUST 2024
Gentlemen of the press, I welcome you to this all-important press briefing by the Humanities Welfare and Social Development Initiative in collaboration with
coalition of Civil Society organizations which has painstakingly noticed the continuous attack on the personality of the GCEO Mr Mele Kyari whose leadership frantic and commendably sincere efforts in rehabilitating and repositioning the Port Harcourt Refinery where Rehabilitation work has been ongoing for over two years.
It is worth noting that on the 6th of April 2021, the refineries front NNPCL had made good on its promise to rehabilitate the refinery by pushing through the procurement process culminating in the signing of the $1.5 bn Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement a transparent process with Tecnimont SPA for the complete rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery and the flag off of construction was done on the 7th May 2021.
The recent trend of tagging every public officeholder as a criminal (thief) is unpatriotic. You will recall that upon the removal of the fuel subsidy which resulted in to hike in the price of fuel to #617, at that time the exchange rate of a dollar to the naira was about #750 but today with the current reality of flotation of naira, the dollar has doubled that amount which has affected the society negatively it is notably to state that despite the rise in exchange rate of the dollar to naira the GCEO of NNPCL has consistently prioritize the yearning need for availability of PMS(fuel) even though IPMAN has frustrated this efforts.
However, with the NNPCL and the Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee’s dedication to revamp and re-operationalize the Port Harcourt refinery to boost daily petrol supply by some 11 million liters to 15 million liters by this August, as was recently revealed by GCEO Mele Kyari- an incredibly laudable development that should be applauded and celebrated by all; perhaps for previous promises by the NNPCL to conclude the Portharcourt refinery rehabilitation project and begin production within previously speculated dates- the most recent being by the end of March, which unfortunately didn’t happen for obvious reasons, we are distraught and concerned to observe and notice disparaging comments from various quarters sponsored by some high profiled business personalities in the oil sector, widespread skepticism and a lack of confidence in the NNPCL’s sincere efforts to deliver within the latest stated record time- this August.
It’s against this backdrop and to support the NNPCL’s efforts, that our civil society coalition wishes to state the obvious very clearly as a matter of utmost importance that Nigerians should keep faith in the said promise made by Mr. Mele Kyari,
the Portharcourt refinery rehabilitation project is ongoing and possibly further corroborate and reinforce NNPCL’s promise of the Portharcourt refinery’s readiness this August, Nigerians seem to be losing patience which is undoubtedly valid this has necessitated our swift actions via Press conferences, media engagements and conversations in various fora to boost, deepen and manage stakeholders’ confidence in the rehabilitation process, bringing much needed positive publicity, appreciation, encouragement and endearment to the good work of the NNPCL which is justifiable by the recent submission of the IPMAN controller in an interview with Channels TV.
