Senator Jide Ipinsagba, representing the Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State and Senate Chairman on Niger Delta Affairs, assured Nigerians that all the country's refineries would begin operations before the end of the year, as reported by Punch.
Speaking in Akure, the Ondo State capital, he stated that ongoing work on the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries would be completed, allowing them to start functioning by December. Ipinsagba, who also serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, expressed confidence that once the refineries were fully operational, the issues plaguing the petroleum sector would be resolved.
He highlighted that efforts were in full swing to ensure the refineries' readiness, noting that the Port Harcourt refinery was about 90 to 95 percent optimized in terms of retrofitting, Warri was about 80 percent complete, and Kaduna was at 70 percent.
He mentioned that the Dangote refinery was also ready to operate soon, which would help alleviate fuel supply problems for internal consumption. Furthermore, he pointed out that exporting refined oil would improve Nigeria's exchange rate, as the country had already begun exportation.
Ipinsagba emphasized that these assurances were not merely theoretical, as his committee had conducted oversight visits to the refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Lagos, and Warri to verify the progress firsthand. He assured that what he was reporting was based on direct observation, not just discussions held in their offices.
“This is not a paper talk , our committee went for oversight on this . What I am telling you now, it was demonstrated and we saw it . We went there ( to the refineries), we looked at everything , it is not that we sat in our office and be talking, we went to Kaduna, we were in Port Harcourt, we were in Lagos and Warri as well, just to ensure what they are telling us is not just on paper,” the Senator said.