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Nigeria’s petroleum retailers have criticised the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited over comments seen as justifying the prolonged shutdown of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) took exception to remarks attributed to NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, in which he reportedly described the refinery as a major loss centre and urged Nigerians to be grateful for the Dangote Refinery’s intervention in fuel supply.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, PETROAN’s National Public Relations Officer, Joseph Obele, said it was inappropriate to applaud a private refinery while excusing the collapse of a public facility financed with national resources.
Obele acknowledged the scale and significance of the Dangote Refinery but stressed that its performance cannot replace the government’s constitutional duty to manage and sustain state-owned assets for the benefit of citizens.
“Dangote Refinery is a private business driven by efficiency and profit, while NNPC holds national assets in trust for Nigerians. One cannot be used to justify the failure of the other,” he said.
Furthermore, PETROAN warned that frequent public admissions of failure by NNPC leadership, without a clear turnaround strategy, risk damaging investor confidence and weakening Nigeria’s energy security architecture.
The association also faulted suggestions that there was no immediate need to revive the Port Harcourt Refinery, as the Dangote Refinery is currently meeting domestic fuel demand, describing such a stance as deeply concerning.
According to Obele, leadership should focus on restoring broken institutions rather than leaning on private sector success stories.
He described the remarks as evidence of a lack of urgency and solution-driven governance.
PETROAN cautioned against normalising waste, institutional decay, and post hoc justification of poor decisions, insisting that acknowledging failure must be followed by accountability, reforms, and a credible recovery plan.
Obele added that the association may engage civil society organisations and other stakeholders to explore legal steps if the Port Harcourt Refinery fails to resume operations by March 1, 2026.
He warned that a continued shutdown, despite the huge sums reportedly spent on rehabilitation, could result in corrosion, equipment deterioration, and eventual loss of the entire investment if urgent action is not taken.