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Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has urged President Bola Tinubu to take responsibility for Nigeria’s refinery challenges, accusing his administration of worsening the financial obligations of the country’s three state-owned refineries.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the remarks in a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
He was reacting to Tinubu’s recent statement that he had accepted responsibility for the “assets and liabilities” inherited from previous administrations.
The President spoke when the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, led by Salimon Oladiti, visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Atiku described it as “political escapism” for Tinubu to blame previous administrations for the state of the refineries after his government funded their rehabilitation and presented their return to operation as an achievement.
Citing NNPC financial records, Atiku said the combined obligations of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries to the national oil company rose from about N4.52tn at the end of 2023 to N8.67tn at the end of 2024, representing an increase of about N4.15tn under the Tinubu administration.
“President Tinubu cannot have it both ways. When the cameras were rolling in November 2024, his government told Nigerians that the Port Harcourt refinery was back,” he said.
“Now that the celebration has turned into embarrassment, the same administration wants Nigerians to believe that the refineries are merely liabilities inherited from previous governments.
“Mr President, you claimed the refinery when you thought it was working. You cannot disown it now that the smoke has cleared.”
The former Vice-President said Nigerians deserved an explanation on how the funds committed to the refineries had translated into tangible benefits, asking, “If the combined obligations of these refineries jumped by more than N4tn in 2024 alone, what exactly did Nigerians receive in return?”
He further asked, “Where did the money go? Where are the products? Where are the savings Nigerians were promised? And where is the refinery your government celebrated before television cameras?”
Atiku said the President could not take credit for projects when they appeared successful and blame previous administrations when they failed.
He added that Nigerians could not afford another four years of what he described as wasteful spending and policy failures, arguing that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration was no longer simply managing inherited liabilities but was creating its own.
