The House of Representatives has ordered a probe into $18 billion reportedly spent on reviving Nigeria’s refineries, which remain non-functional.
The House of Representatives has ordered an investigation into the persistent non-functionality of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, despite about $18 billion reportedly spent on their rehabilitation in the past two decades.
The resolution followed a motion by Lagos lawmaker Oluwaseun Whinghan during Thursday’s plenary presided over by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu. Whinghan said the House was concerned that “there is no verifiable evidence of substantial rehabilitation outcomes, representing a gross misuse of public funds and a betrayal of public trust.”
He recalled that in 2007, a privatization deal involving Aliko Dangote and others was reversed by the Umaru Yar’Adua administration, opting for rehabilitation that has yielded no tangible results.
The House subsequently mandated its Committees on Petroleum Resources, Gas Resources, and Public Assets to investigate all funds appropriated and disbursed for the refineries’ rehabilitation between 2010 and 2024.