Details have emerged on how the 60,000 barrels-per-day Old Port Harcourt Refinery, which was restarted in December 2024 and generating over ₦15 billion monthly was shut down for personal interest.
The Refinery which has more than 500 Nigerian youths in its employ, was abruptly ordered to be shut down by the embattled Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Mr Bayo Ojulari.
Forefront News authoritatively gathered that the NNPC Ltd GCEO unilaterally took the decision without any impute from the management team of the company and directed the Managing Directors of the nation’s three refineries through emails to shut down the refineries.
Information pieced together further indicated that one of the Managing Directors replied the NNPC Ltd GCEO asking why the sudden decision to shut down Refinery that is functional, but Ojulari replied back that he should comply with the directive.
It was further gathered that the MD of one of the Refineries asked why a decision affecting a functional Refinery he was running would be shutdown without any form of assessment whatsoever, adding that if there was to be any complain, it ought to resonate from the Refinery and not the NNPC Ltd headquarters in Abuja and strongly advised Ojulari against it, but the mind of the GCEO of the NNPC Ltd was made up and insisted on the shutdown.
While Ojulari publicly claimed the closure of the Refinery was for a 30-day “routine maintenance,” checks by Forefront News clearly revealed a far more sinister motive aimed at deliberately devaluing the Refinery in order to justify its sale as a scrap and at a ridiculous price to AYM Shafa Group.
A top official of the NNPC Ltd, told our correspondent that the NNPC GCEO, Mr Ojulari and his long-time business associate, Mr Bashir Haske, who is son in-law of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar both have close ties with AYM Shafa Group.
It was gathered that the shutdown which took the Federal Government by surprise also caused the administration some embarrassment as stakeholders and concerned Nigerians raised serious concerns over shutting down the Refineries after the humongous and colossal amount of money spent on the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) for the Refineries for which President Tinubu had taken the credit for bringing to life once again the Refineries that were considered moribund.
It was further gathered that the likely plan behind shutting down the Refineries by Ojulari is to ensured the facility’s worth would plummet and easily pave the way for a shady takeover.
Further revelations have shown that the shutdown has also allowed Ojulari to divert the Refinery’s monthly allocation of one million barrels of crude oil to his allies through NNPC Trading Limited, headed by Maryamu Idrisu as Managing Director, who allegedly delivers the lucrative cargoes to Ojulari’s cronies.
Workers and contractors at the Refinery confirm to Forefront News that there were no technical issues whatsoever that require any closure, stressing that the only barrier to the operations was the refusal of NNPC to supply needed crude oil.
One of the top staff insisted that if in doubt, let the federal government investigate the matter by sending a team to the Refinery to witness resumption of production once crude oil supply is restored,
According to the senior staff; “This is a deliberate and calculated act which clearly amounts to economic sabotage of the highest order. It is really sad and counter productive to President Bola Tinubu’s desire to get the oil sector fixed and working.
“We call on the relevant agencies to investigate this brazen assault on Nigeria’s economy. Let President Bola Tinubu order the reopening of Port Harcourt Refinery to safeguard energy security, protect jobs, and restore investor confidence,” the staff stressed.
