The minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has said President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has not spent a penny on the country's four refineries since the inception of the administration in 2015.
Kachikwu, who made the statement in Abuja on Thursday, December 13, said not spending a dime on the four refineries was an achievement not many have paid attention to, Daily Trust reports.
It was gathered that Kachikwu made the assertion during a presentation of three years key achievements of the ministry and award to its staff.
He said: “What is important is that for the first time, the president had been able to say that he would repair the refineries without government money. Nobody had been able to give attention to that. No government one penny had been spent on any refinery.
“This is because every Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) that we have done in the past has always come up with stories. Wrong contracting models, wrong delivery, wrong work, and we don’t want to go that way."
According to Kachikwu, the target of the current administration is to bring in private sector investors to finance the repairs of the refineries.
The minister added: “NNPC have struggled to find the financiers, now financiers have finally been found but to agree on terms have been difficult. I am hoping that by the end of this year and first quarter next year we would have completed the commercial aspect of this financial undertaking which is in the excess of over $2 billion.”
Report has it that more than N264 billion was spent on turn around maintenance of the refineries by previous administrations but the plants have failed to deliver.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the minister of state for petroleum, Ibe kachikwu, on Thursday, October 4, revealed that it would be saddening if the nation’s refineries were not functional by the end of 2019.
According to him, the present administration is committed to ensuring that the importation of petroleum products is curtailed.
Kachikwu stated this in Ibigwe-Ohaji in Ohaji\Egbema council area of Imo during the ground-breaking for construction of the 5,000 BPD modular refinery by Walter Smith petro-chemical limited.
The report said the project was being partnered by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
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