Evidence shows that Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri refineries are deteriorating despite a $3bn contract to revive them.
Our journalists in Rivers, Kaduna, and Delta states visited the refineries and found that the massive amount, which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is investigating, did not work.
Sunday PUNCH reported that refinery personnel can open and close whenever they want because they have nothing to do.
A wasteful pattern
The country’s long-standing dispute with state-owned refineries has cost billions in revenue due to dependency on imported petroleum products.
Nigeria is Africa’s greatest oil production but imports nearly all refined petroleum, fueling corruption and economic troubles for decades.
Since the early 2000s, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has overseen various restoration attempts, with promises of operational reactivation consistently unmet.
The $3bn large facility investment was designed to break the cycle.
However, our correspondent found widespread failure, missing deadlines, and mismanagement.
EFCC participation arises from financial misappropriation claims.
The anti-graft bureau questioned the recently fired NNPCL managing directors and key staff in May 2025 about the $3bn mismanagement.
In Port Harcourt, shutdowns break promises
The Port Harcourt Refining Company in Alesa, Eleme LGA, Rivers State, has two units: a 1965 60,000 bpd plant and a 1989 150,000 bpd plant with 210,000 bpd capacity.
Obsolescence and vandalism forced the refinery to close in 2019.
The $1.5bn, three-phase repair was scheduled to finish in 2025 to restore full capacity.
In November 2024, then-NNPCL Group CEO Mele Kyari declared a 70% resumption, estimating 1.5 million litres of diesel, 2.1 million of low-pour fuel oil, 1.4 million of petrol, and 900,000 of kerosene daily.
However, our data showed that operations were brief before difficulties developed.
For routine maintenance, previous NNPCL spokesman Olufemi Soneye announced a 30-day outage on May 24, 2025.
In June 2025, the Host Community Bulk Petroleum Retailers Association expressed shock and urged timelines to avoid fooling Nigerians.
Our correspondent visited the plant twice and found little activity, even though several workers were napping.
NNPCL rejected the reports.
The protracted shutdown shocked stakeholders under the Host Community Bulk Petroleum Retailers Association of Port Harcourt Refinery Depot on June 5.
They challenged the federal government to keep its 30-day deadline or risk taking Nigerians for granted.
NNPCL reviewed rehabilitation plans in July 2025.
The NNPCL delayed full repair in August 2025, admitting faults in the $1.5bn project and confirming incomplete status.
After visiting the refinery again, our correspondent found it idle and not producing.
Workers moved in and out, doing administrative work.
The PHRC depot near the refinery’s main facility halted operations.
No petrol or kerosene was lifted in the once-busy truck park. Only diesel was trucked out of old stock.
Some marketers at the depot said the federal government misled Nigerians with the 2024 launch of the 60,000-barrel-per-day plant.
Since Mele Kyari last came, the depot loaded only a few trucks, said Toku. After that, the refinery stopped running until today. Three months ago, they loaded just DPK and AGO from old stock; today only AGO. The refinery produces nothing. Not working. The government should cease lying to us.”
Another marketer, who requested anonymity to avoid victimization, said the management planned to test the facility the week before but did not.
He continued, “They said the loading bay is faulty. They’re only loading AGO. However, only giant businesses like NNPC and Oando are lifting initially. Due of cost, independent marketers cannot buy from the refinery. Some of us use cheaper private depots.”
Warri refinery: Brief recovery, quick fall
Since 1978, the 125,000-bpd Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company has produced polypropylene and carbon black.
Public records show it was shut down in 2015 owing to pipeline vandalism and technical issues and remained idle till the rehab.
Warri received $897.6m of the $1.4bn federal grant for 2021 as well as Kaduna.
After a decade, Reuters reported resumption on December 30, 2024.
Kyari declared it open and predicted 60% initial operations.
Our correspondent found no manufacturing at the site on a recent visit.
The tanker park is vacant and the chemical plant flare is absent.
When one of our correspondents went, the complex was empty except for administrative staff.
“WRPC staff come to work as a routine and go home at will,” stated an insider. The refinery is idle, therefore people are getting salaries.”
Another source claimed that some maintenance was ongoing pending a new NNPCL policy instruction.
“Every NNPCL administration has its own policy. He noted that this administration has not announced its Warri Refinery policy.
Endless rehabilitation at Kaduna refinery
Same happened at Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company. It no longer has loud equipment, furnace flames, and busy workers.
The compound looked abandoned save for a police post with a faded sign.
Once, this place was alive. There were furnace flames and work noises. Now nothing. “They keep saying ‘maintenance’ but we have heard the same story for years with no end in sight,” said Paulina, a Kapam bartender near the refinery.
Aisha Mohammed, another resident, said all refinery launch promises had failed.
She stated, “Even if the refinery starts operation at 60%, that is good. They promised identical objectives last time, witnessed flames, then silence. Promises bore us.”
The gate guard stated nothing had changed.
He stated, “They say ‘quick-fix,’ but the fix feels slow. Nothing has improved: no jobs, fuel, terrible roads, excessive prices.”
The villagers think little has changed.
“This is like the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, everybody is waiting, and it is not coming,” Kapam resident John informed our correspondent.
The Kaduna refinery has cost billions without returns.
The NNPCL signed a $740.6m “quick-fix” maintenance contract in February 2023, pledging 60% output capacity by December 2024.
Critics believe missing deadlines wasted the money. The EFCC is also investigating rehabilitation funds.
To avoid retaliation, a former refinery engineer warned that inaction and staff shortages could derail the project.
Long-term refinery idleness causes corrosion. Even after turn-around maintenance, extra staff are needed. Fewer than 100 staff remain from over 1,200.
Kapam and other villagers lost livelihoods when the refinery collapsed.
Shops, transport, and housing provided by the site have closed.
At the entrance, kiosk owner Musa said, “Back then, workers would come to our shops every day.”
People hardly pass here now. Security guards have been cut too. Unlike before, we survive on simple things.”
The NNPCL pledged to solve the three refineries’ problems.
Andy Odeh, NNPC spokesperson, told our correspondent, “The NNPC is determined to provide a sustainable solution to its three refineries to restore them to full operations. Detailed technical and commercial studies of Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri refineries are underway.”
About the Author
