CSOs threaten to occupy NNPCL Towers over Warri Refinery disrepair

No fewer than 100 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have threatened to storm the corporate headquarters of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to register their anger over the state of disrepair of the Warri refinery.

Spokesperson of the group, Engr. Efe Irabor, in a statement on Tuesday, warned against the purported plan to convert the refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri to blending plants.

The group warned that this could create grounds for cronies to continue importing products with a high density of sulfur, not minding the environmental effects on the locals and the ripple effects on the masses.

“We shall rise against this act of irresponsibility. Nigerian refineries must be put into full function. Kyari, the NNPCL, NMDPRA, and all the concerned bodies should tell Nigerians how they spent over 3 billion dollars released to put the Warri Refinery into proper functioning. Anything short of full-fledged refineries shall be resisted,” they warned.

“In the coming days, we shall announce the date when we shall march, with each of the 100 groups mobilizing not less than 200 members, in a 2 million-man march to the NNPC towers and the National Assembly to demand that the Warri Refinery be activated.

“To demand accountability from those who collected the money to fix our refineries and are now speaking English.”

It would be recalled that Mr. Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, had stated in February this year that the Warri Refinery would be rehabilitated by the first quarter of this year.

Warri, one of Nigeria’s three refineries operated by NNPCL, is situated in Warri, Delta State, and was established in 1978. The other two are the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company in Kaduna State and the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State.

The Warri Refinery is a complex conversion refinery that processes 125,000 barrels of crude oil daily. The facility houses a petrochemical plant founded in 1988 that produces carbon black and polypropylene.