President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has restated his government’s plan to make the nation’s refineries to work again.
The president said the four refineries will commence operation soon, starting with the Port Harcourt Refinery which is expected to start operation in December.
Tinubu spoke days after Mele Kyari, the chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Limited assured Nigerians that plan was on to end importation of refined petroleum products by next year.
Kyari disclosed last week during a meeting with Senate President Godswill Akpabio that the Port Harcourt refinery will start operation by the end of the year.
Tinubu who spoke during the 11th Convocation ceremony of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, MOUAU, at the weekend, said the high price of fuel will be reduced drastically once the local refineries start working.
The president was represented at the event by the Executive Secretary, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, Professor Garba Sharubutu.
He said: “Very soon, some of our local refineries will start production, and the current exorbitant prices of fuel energy will be greatly reduced.”
Analysts insist that the nation’s four refineries must work as a remedy for the current fuel problems facing the country, due to the importation of refined petroleum products which has cost the country its scarce foreign exchange.
