Port Harcourt Refinery ready by March 2023, NNPC tells House
By Tom Okpe
Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company, (NNPC) Mele Kyari, has revealed that ongoing rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery will be completed by March, 2023.
Kyari said this at the resumed Investigative Hearing into the state of refineries in the country by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee, chaired by Ganiyu Johnson, DailyTimes gathered.
The committee is also demanding for details of the $18 million expenditure, $50 million expended on the same day as well as $1.5 billion approved for the Port Harcourt Refinery.
Represented by Mustapha Yakubu, General Manager, Refineries & Petrochemicals of the company, Kyari said the contract which took-off on the 6th May, 2021 had attained 30 per cent completion level, with target of March, 2023 while part of it would be delivered within 32 months and the entire project, expected to be completed within 42 months.
While affirming that contract for the survey of the refineries followed due process, he said the contracts for the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna Refineries had not been awarded.
Responding to questions on the rehabilitation contract work, representative of Sapien Engineering Company which got the contract of $135 million for the comprehensive technical survey of Port Harcourt Refineries, said additional sum of £2.3 million was approved for the inspection of both Warri and Kaduna refineries.
The committee therefore requested for Federal Executive Council approval of the $1.5 billion for Port Harcourt refinery, approval of various expenditures incurred on the 26th July, 2017 worth $5.321 million for comprehensive technical plants as well as another $55 million paid on the same day.
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The lawmakers alleged that the contract was awarded to Sapien without further due diligence, adding that the contract was not subjected to competitive bidding.
They also directed NNPC Management to recourse back to the committee before awarding the contract for the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna, since the pipelines are in bad shape.
Dachung Bagos, a member of the committee queried the rationale behind the £2.3 million expended on survey of Kaduna and Warri Refineries when the pipelines are in bad shape.
Johnson Oghuma, another member recommended that both Kaduna and Warri Refineries should be scrapped with a view to save the nation because they are drained, pipes.
The lawmakers also queried the sum of $18 million expended by NNPC as well as additional sum of $50 million above the approval limits, alleging that such development amounted to contract splitting.
