The founder of Stanbic IBTC and Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, says the $1.5 billion earmarked for rehabilitating the Port Harcourt refinery can build 12 world-class hospitals in different geographical zones across the country.
“The $1.5bn earmarked for PH Refinery Rehabilitation by #NNPC could build 12 world-class hospitals costing $125m each — two in each geopolitical zone,” Peterside said in a tweet on Thursday.
He advised the Federal Government to sell the Port Harcourt refinery to qualified private sector investors who can carry out necessary repair works with their own money.
“We could then allow private sector core investors to purchase the refinery and rehabilitate it with their own funds,” Peterside said.
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Several Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to privatise the refineries and avoid years of losses from them, but the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has continued to insist it will rehabilitate them and continue to own them.
A report published by NNPC in 2020 shows that Nigeria’s three refineries still cost the country N10.23 billion in expenses.
The NNPC disclosed in the report that the three refineries, located in Warri, Port-Harcourt and Kaduna, processed no crude because of the rehabilitation works being carried out on them.
The Port-Harcourt Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (PHRC) has the capacity of producing 210,000 barrels per day, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (KRPC) can produce 110,000 barrels per day, while the Warri Refining Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC) has 125,000 barrels per day production capacity.
Recall on March 17, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the sum of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery.
Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum, said the rehabilitation would be done in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months.
He added that the contract would be awarded to Tecnimont SPA, an Italian company.
BusinessDay had reported that Peterside asked the Federal Government to halt the repair of the refinery and subject the process to “an informed national debate”.
The FG is planning to sell or concession the nation’s refineries, according to a Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) document submitted
to the National Assembly.
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