By Opeyemi Adelakun
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to account for the rising financial obligations tied to Nigeria’s three state-owned refineries, accusing his administration of spending trillions of naira without delivering sustainable refining capacity.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the liabilities attached to the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries rose by about ₦4.15 trillion in one year, according to financial records of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
He argued that the development raises serious questions about the government’s management of the refineries, particularly after the Tinubu administration publicly presented the rehabilitation of the facilities as part of its achievements.
The ADC candidate was reacting to the Federal Government’s position on liabilities inherited from previous administrations, insisting that Tinubu could no longer rely solely on the past to explain the current condition of the refineries.
Atiku said, “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. NNPC announced that it was operating at 70 per cent capacity and expressly presented it as an achievement under President Tinubu’s leadership.”
He added, “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.”
According to Atiku, NNPC’s records showed that the combined obligations of the three refineries to the national oil company increased from approximately ₦4.52 trillion at the end of 2023 to ₦8.67 trillion at the end of 2024.
He questioned what Nigerians received in return for the additional expenditure, given that petrol prices remain high and the country continues to depend heavily on imported refined petroleum products.
“So Nigerians deserve answers. If the combined obligations of these refineries jumped by more than ₦4 trillion in 2024 alone, what exactly did Nigerians receive in return?” he 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 further argued that the administration should accept responsibility for decisions taken under its watch rather than continuously attributing failures to previous governments.
“You cannot spend three years claiming credit for everything that appears to work and blaming your predecessors for everything that fails. Leadership does not work that way,” he said.
He also cited subsequent statements attributed to NNPC leadership describing the refineries as operating at a “monumental loss”, saying this had deepened concerns over the sustainability of the government’s refinery strategy.
Atiku said the situation was particularly troubling because public funds tied up in the refineries could have been deployed to other critical sectors.
“Think about what ₦4 trillion could do for Nigeria. Think about the universities struggling with overcrowded lecture halls, hospitals without modern equipment, roads that have become death traps and communities without electricity or potable water,” he said.
He described the situation as “not merely incompetence” but “an unforgivable failure of stewardship.”
The former vice president also accused the Tinubu administration of presenting ambitious announcements before the projects concerned had delivered sustainable results.
“President Tinubu’s scorecard after more than three years is increasingly a story of fire and smoke — enormous expenditure, extravagant announcements and very little Nigerians can hold in their hands,” Atiku said.
He warned that Nigeria could not afford continued spending on projects without corresponding results, particularly at a time when citizens are facing rising living costs.
“Nigeria cannot afford another four years of paying for failure,” he said.
Atiku maintained that after more than three years in office, the Tinubu administration should be judged not only on the challenges inherited from previous governments but also on the liabilities and outcomes generated under its own watch.
“Mr President, stop blaming your predecessors. After more than three years, you are no longer merely managing inherited liabilities. You are creating your own — and increasingly, your government itself has become the biggest liability Nigerians are being forced to carry,” he said.
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