In a recent twist of events, the Labour Party’s leadership has vehemently criticized the reported ‘mechanical completion’ and the ‘flare start-off’ of Nigeria’s largest crude refinery situated in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) cautioned the Labour Party against politicizing the issue, urging a more nuanced approach to public discourse.
The controversy emerged a week after the Federal Government, represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, declared the near-completion of the Port Harcourt refinery during a media tour. The refinery, boasting a combined refining capacity of 210,000 barrels per day from its two units, includes an old plant with a 60,000 barrels per day output and a new plant contributing 150,000 barrels per day.
However, the Labour Party remains skeptical, with Chief Spokesman Yunusa Tanko asserting that the reported start-off of the plant was a staged event orchestrated by the APC government. Tanko claimed insider information suggesting that the gas flare in Port Harcourt refinery was deceptive, with no actual production of oil accompanying the reported completion.
In an exclusive interview, Tanko said, “This particular gas flare in Port Harcourt refinery is a deceit. It is another lie to deceive the Nigerian people. If they are sure about the fact, let them prove us wrong. What happened is that some people just went and switched on the power generator to start up that particular gas flaring to deceive the Nigerian people.”
In response, Nze Chidi Duru, Deputy National Organising Secretary of the APC, clarified that the Port Harcourt refinery’s operation is a privately funded project unrelated to the Federal Government. Duru urged opposition parties to engage in constructive criticisms rather than scoring political points, emphasizing the private sector-led nature of the initiative.
“It (refinery) is working and functional. But it has nothing to do with the government because it is a private sector-led initiative. It is not everything we should play politics with in this country. It is a private sector-led initiative,” Duru emphasized, cautioning against undue politicization of the refinery’s status.
