News

Subsidy Fiasco : Return To Status Quo, Or Face Total ShowDown Wednesday , NLC Warns FG

Published

1 year ago

June 5, 2023

Thebig Eye

Electricity workers,States Councils Back Strike

TUC Meets FG Team Demands Salary Increase Fuel Importers Seek Equal Access To Forex

The Nigeria Labour Congress yesterday declined a meeting called by the Federal Government to discuss the subsidy removal and the attendant hike in fuel pump prices across the country.

The union insisted that it would not hold any dialogue with the government representatives unless a legitimate team was set up.

But the Trade Union Congress officials attended the meeting which was a follow-up to the talks held with the NLC at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, last week, which ended in a deadlock.

Meanwhile, the electricity workers have vowed to join the strike and plunge the nation into a blackout in protest against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Bola Tinubu administration.

The National Treasurer of the NLC, Hakeem Ambali, confirmed the decision of the union to boycott the meeting which was a follow-up to the Wednesday meeting on the removal of subsidy.

During the meeting attended by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mele Kyari, Dele Alake, and others, the NLC had insisted on the reversal of the fuel pump price pegged at between N488 and N540.

Following the breakdown of talks, the congress resolved at its NEC meeting held on Friday to embark on a nationwide strike.

Speaking to The PUNCH on Sunday, Ambali explained that like the TUC, the NLC was invited for a follow-up meeting at the State House following the earlier meeting which ended in a deadlock.

He hinted that the union did not attend the talks because the government representatives had no official mandate or authority to negotiate for the President.

“It was an adjourned meeting, a follow-up to the last one. However, the NLC insisted that we would be ready to negotiate with a team that has legitimacy and official mandate to negotiate for President Tinubu,” he stated.

Shedding light on the NLC’s boycott of the session, the National President of the congress, Joe Ajaero, contended that the meeting was of no consequence to the congress.

NLC slams FG

Speaking in an interview on Arise television on Sunday, Ajaero said, “Of what use is today’s meeting? As of Tuesday night, I had a meeting with the president of the TUC and some other government officials. I told the NNPCL MD that any move to increase the pump price would be taken as war.

“They went ahead to announce. We told them to return to the status quo so that negotiations will continue but up till now, they have not done that. So what are we going to the meeting to do?

“We are not making any progress and this is because we are still at the same point. The issue of alternatives and subsidies are things we have discussed over time and our position has been made public but the government appears not to be interested in our position.”

Speaking on media reports about factions of the NLC opposed to the strike, Ajaero said, “On Friday, all affiliates of the NLC agreed that we should take the next line of action. We don’t have northern NLC or southern NLC. If any media house has proof, let them bring it forward.”

In a notice issued on Sunday, the National Union of Electricity Employees also threatened to join the strike action.

Already, the NUEE has directed its members to withdraw their services nationwide over the sudden removal of the fuel subsidy by the FG.

The NUEE in a notice signed by its acting General Secretary, Dominic Igwebike, urged its members to comply with the directive and stop work from the early hours of Wednesday.

The union said its decision was a sequel to the directive from the NLC.

“To this effect, all national, state, and chapter executives are requested to start the mobilisation of our members in total compliance with this directive,” the statement said.

It further added, “Please note that withdrawal of Services nationwide commences from 0.00 hours of Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

“You are encouraged to work with the leadership of State Executive Councils of the Congress in your various states with a view to having a successful action.’’

As the Federal Government was scrambling to avert the strike, various state chapters of the NLC on Sunday started mobilising their members for the strike on Wednesday as directed by the leadership of the union.

The Lagos State chapter of the union endorsed the strike declared by the NLC leadership despite pleas by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The NLC Chairman in Lagos State, Funmi Sessi, said the chapter was “in full support of the strike.”

Sessi, who said the NLC was not against subsidy removal, stressed that the congress was concerned about the masses and the effect the abrupt removal of subsidy would have on them.

She stated, “We are part of the NLC NEC’s decision to embark on a nationwide strike from Wednesday. If the Federal Government does not caution the NNPCL to revert to the old pump price, the strike will go on as planned.

“The pump price must be reversed, then the Federal Government should afterward invite the NLC and stakeholders to dialogue over the issue. We are part of this decision in Lagos, and we are in full support of the strike.”

Like his Lagos counterpart, the Chairman of NLC in Nasarawa State, Ayuba Okok, said the workers in the state would participate in the strike action.

Addressing journalists after an emergency meeting of the State Executive Council held in Lafia on Sunday, Oko stated that he had directed all affiliates of the union in the state to mobilise their members preparatory to the strike.

Similarly, the Bayelsa State Council of the NLC said that it had asked the state workers to prepare to join the strike.

The state NLC secretary, John Angese, who stated this in a telephone chat with one of our correspondents on Sunday, said the state council was against the removal of oil subsidy by the Federal Government.

He said, “We (Bayelsa NLC) are participating in the strike; we’ve been given a directive to that effect from the national leadership. Our chairman is returning to Yenagoa from Abuja where he had gone to attend the NEC meeting. As soon as he comes into town, there is the likelihood of us convening a meeting tomorrow Monday to carry out the directive of the national leadership.”

The situation was the same in Delta State where the workers’ leaders are gearing up for the strike.

The NLC Chairman in the state, Goodluck Ofobruku, said, “We’re fully in support of the ultimatum and will join the planned strike and protests. As I speak, mobilisation has started”

On his part, the NLC leader in Cross River State, Gregory Ulayi, expressed his strong support for the impending strike.

The Ondo State chapter of the congress said it was ready to comply with the directive on strike issued last Friday by the NLC headquarters.

The congress Chairman in the state, Mr Victor Amoko, noted, “The NLC executive in the state will be meeting tomorrow (Monday) where we will brief our members on the outcome of the NLC decision in Abuja.

“I want to confirm to you that we are not backing out from the planned nationwide strike unless there is a new directive from the national body of the union”

On the other hand, the TUC in the state said its action would depend on the outcome of the meeting of the national body of the association with the FG.

The state chairman of the TUC, Mr Clement Fatuwase simply said, “Our national body would meet today on the matter and the outcome would determine whether we are going to join the strike or not.”

The Chairman of the TUC in Ekiti State, Sola Adigun, echoed Fatuwase, saying the union members had yet to be mandated to begin a strike over the removal of fuel subsidy.

Adigun said the TUC and its affiliates in the state were only instructed to start preparing their members for actions that will take place based on the Federal Government’s response to organised labour’s demand.

Giving an update on its decision about the proposed action, the Kano State chapter of the NLC said it would decide on Monday (today) whether to join the strike and protest called by the national body of the union.

Kano NLC meets

The state NLC Chairman, Kabiru Inuwa, disclosed that the union would hold a meeting at 3pm on Monday to take a decision on the planned strike and protest and made its position known afterwards.

“I attended the meeting convened by the national body of our union in Abuja. So, we have also called for a meeting of our local branch which will be held tomorrow (Monday).

“We shall make our position known whether to join the strike or not tomorrow after the meeting which has been fixed for 3 pm,” Inuwa said.

During a two-hour meeting with the Presidency, the TUC, among others, demanded a review of the minimum wage.

Meanwhile, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria said it was mobilising its members for the nationwide strike.

The union’s National Financial Secretary, Jimoh Musa, made this known in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday.

Musa said, “Of course, we will be mobilizing our members. We were a part of the meeting held two days ago. An injury to one is an injury to all. So, therefore we will be joining the strike.”

Speaking on the planned strike, the Deputy-President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa described it as ill-advised and counter-productive to the long-term merits of fuel subsidy removal.

‘NLC short-sighted’

According to him, fuel subsidy has been an albatross on the neck of the national economy, stifling growth, while enriching a select few.

Idahosa said, “It is definitely not a good move by the NLC. It just shows the unfortunate shortsightedness of the labour movement because they are looking at the immediate pain and the immediate gain and they are not looking at the best interest of their own workers.’’

In the same vein, the National Vice President of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, Segun Kuti-George said the planned strike action by the NLC would amount to postponing the evil day.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government, on Sunday evening, said it was reviewing a long list of demands made by the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, the topmost of which was the upward review of the minimum wage.

This followed a two-hour meeting between the representatives of the FG and the TUC at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Sunday’s meeting came four days after talks between the Government, TUC, and the Nigerian Labour Congress ended in a deadlock.

Dele Alake who spoke on behalf of the FG said the meeting featured the consideration of a list of demands from the trade unions, amongst which was the upward review of the minimum wage due to what he described as a drastic fall in the purchasing power of Nigerian workers occasioned by the discontinuance of petroleum subsidy.

However, discussions would continue on Tuesday, he said, as the President plans to convene a tripartite committee comprising the organised labour and private sector, to consider the specifics of the demands.

The President of the TUC, Festus Osifo, said aside from the minimum wage increase the union also demanded tax holidays for some categories of workers and revert to the old petrol pump price of N195/Litre while negotiations continue.

He explained “In the meeting we just concluded, we have detailed and marshalled out the list of our demands to them (FG).

“They also in turn told us that when they presented the items to us on Wednesday, we told them that we were going back to our principals. So they also need to touch base with Mr. President, so that we will reconvene this meeting again on Tuesday.

“We are hopeful that the demand that we have presented will be reviewed in the best interest of Nigerian workers.”

Meanwhile, e-hailing drivers under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transport Workers of Nigeria have said that they would withdraw their services and embark on a nationwide protest on Tuesday over the failure of e-hailing companies to implement a 200 percent increase in fares following the new pump prices for petrol.

The Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the union, Jossy Olawale disclosed this to The PUNCH.

He said the union was aware of the upward review of fares being implemented by some e-hailing firms.

A popular e-hailing company, in a memo dated June 2 informed drivers on its platform about an upward review in fares following the spike in operating costs.

According to the memo seen by our correspondent, the price review will see fares rise from N700 to N800.

Against the backdrop of the strike threat by labour unions, the Director General of Michael Imoudu National Institute For Labour Studies, Issa Aremu, has called for continuous dialogue between the organised labour and the FG on the fuel subsidy removal.

Aremu in a statement issued in Ilorin on Sunday, emphasized the imperative of policy dialogue and discussions between the government and relevant stakeholders on the vexed issue of deregulation.

He expressed optimism that through the exchange of facts, negotiations, and compromises, both the government and labour would find common ground for the inevitable reform of the petroleum downstream sector which he said the sector unions had been pushing for years.

He recalled that Petroleum products supply and pricing had always been an acid test for successive governments in Nigeria.

The former vice president of the NLC said, “What makes the current reform different is that there is a national consensus among all stakeholders that prohibitive costs of subsidizing a single product (petrol) in the wake of declining public revenue and other national needs are unsustainable. In addition, he said the Petroleum Industry Act with all its imperfections has rightly unbundled NNPC and legitimized deregulation.”

To deepen labour engagement through effective civil action, a tactical coordinating team of civil society and labour leaders has been mandated to work closely with the NLC, TUC and organised civil society to present the issues from proper perspectives.

The group comprising Nkoyo Toyo, Salisu Mohammed, Abiodun Aremu, Chris Uyot, Malachy Ugwumadu, Martins Egbanubi, Mo Paul, Hauwa Mustapha, Femi Aborishade, Monday Ubani, Richard Inoyo, Chris Nwaokobia, Jnr, Promise Adewusi, and Olawale Okunniyi, was expected to reach out, mobilise and organise collaborative peaceful mass actions across labour centres and other social movements.

News

P’Harcout Refinery: CSO knocks NNPCL for berating host community leader

Published

42 minutes ago

December 1, 2024

Thebig Eye

***calls on Tinubu to sack Kyari immediately, as refinery stops production

For coming out to disparage a leader from the host community of the Port Harcourt refinery, a group, known as Network of Oil Producing Communities in Nigeria (NOPCN), has come hard on the foremost regulatory agency, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).

This was, even as, the group has called on President Bola Tinubu to relieve the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari of his duties, for misleading the President and Nigerians about the operation of the Port Harcourt refinery.

In a statement on Sunday signed by the President, Engr. Igeniwari Edward, and Comrade Omototsho Ogbe, the group corroborated the comments of the Secretary of the Alesa Community Stakeholders, Timothy Mgbere, saying, the petroleum products loaded from the newly rehabilitated Port-Harcourt Refinery were not freshly refined but dead stocks left in the storage tank of the facility since 2016.

“Before shutting down in 2016, the Port Harcourt refinery had some large quantity of dead stock left in the tank, and were only evacuated from the storage to some trucks during the rehabilitation of Old Area 5.

“Some dead stocks like Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel) were stored in the tanks in large quantity. What NNPC did was to evacuate them into waiting trucks, making the President and Nigerians to believe they were loading freshly refined products into those trucks.

“It is not only Chief Mgbere that knew about this fact, all of us from Alesa, infact, all the suburbs in Eleme can attest to this.

“It also doesn’t surprise us that the NNPCL shut down the refinery sooner than they claimed it was operating. That’s because they ran out of lies and couldn’t cajole the President any further.

“Kyari should be so sober right now and I believe he is already aware that the much celebrated 60,000 capacity segment of the refinery they claimed to have rehabilitated was shut down 2 days ago and no activity is happening there any longer.

“The President should not wait any further before he sacks Mele Kyari and all his accomplices in this national monumental trick they pulled on Nigerians on Tuesday. He should not only be sacked, Kyari should tell Nigerians what happened to over N17 trillion naira injected into the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries.

“Nigerians should also join our Network to say NO to conversion of any of the refineries to a blending plant. We all know the environmental degredations our people having been facing over oil exploration and bunkering activities. We don’t want any further hazard on our land. Kyari should just deliver exactly what the government paid for and stop fighting our leaders in the host communities”, the statement read.

Chief Mgbere, Secretary to Alesa Community Stakeholders Forum, had appeared on a national television show on Thursday, alleging that the Port Harcourt refinery only loaded six trucks on Tuesday, despite stating that 200 trucks would be picked up from the refinery daily, adding that the many trucks parked within the premises were tucked up with dead stock and off-spec of old products.

Alesa, one of the 10 major communities in Eleme, Rivers State, is the host community of the Port-Harcourt Refinery.

But in response to the allegations, the NNPCL denied claims by an Alesa community leader, in a statement signed Friday by its Spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, saying the agency did not lie when it said the Port Harcourt refinery was producing crude oil.

The NNPCL accused Mgbere of crass ignorance of how a refinery runs, saying he would not have dignified him with a response if not for a need to set the records straight.

“We call on the general public to disregard the claims of the self-acclaimed ‘community person’ which are obviously borne out of sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance,” NNPCL had said.

Meanwhile, exclusive report emerging from Sahara Reporters Saturday night corroborated the position of the Network of Oil Producing Communities in Nigeria, that the NNPCL has shut down operation “at the moment” with only its non-petroleum unit running which is the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).

The CDU produces naphtha, kerosene and diesel but cannot produce the component which is needed for the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, top sources at the refinery disclosed to SaharaReporters on Saturday.

“The Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) is still running but the operation of the depot is shut down at the moment. The CDU produces naphtha, diesel and Kerosene but cannot produce theP’Harcout Refinery: CSO knocks NNPCL for berating host community leader

***calls on Tinubu to sack Kyari immediately, as refinery stops production

“It is not only Chief Mgbere that knew about this fact, all of us from Alesa, infact, all the suburbs in Eleme can attest to this.

Alesa, one of the 10 major communities in Eleme, Rivers State, is the host community of the Port-Harcourt Refinery.

The NNPCL accused Mgbere of crass ignorance of how a refinery runs, saying he would not have dignified him with a response if not for a need to set the records straight.

“The Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) is still running but the operation of the depot is shut down at the moment. The CDU produces naphtha, diesel and Kerosene but cannot produce the component for the production of PMS.

“All these products cannot serve the masses as the production of these products are in small P’Harcout Refinery: CSO knocks NNPCL for berating host community leader

***calls on Tinubu to sack Kyari immediately, as refinery stops production

“It is not only Chief Mgbere that knew about this fact, all of us from Alesa, infact, all the suburbs in Eleme can attest to this.

Alesa, one of the 10 major communities in Eleme, Rivers State, is the host community of the Port-Harcourt Refinery.

The NNPCL accused Mgbere of crass ignorance of how a refinery runs, saying he would not have dignified him with a response if not for a need to set the records straight.

“All these products cannot serve the masses as the production of these products are in small quantities even if the plant runs at 100% throughput. The processing plant of 150,000bpd capacity will commence operations in 2026; that is if money is made readily available to meet the timelines because at the moment the project has exceeded $2billion”, a top official of the agency told Sahara Reporters even if the plant runs at 100% throughput. The processing plant of 150,000bpd capacity will commence operations in 2026; that is if money is made readily available to meet the timelines because at the moment the project has exceeded $2billion”, a top official of the agency told Sahara Reporters component for the production of PMS.

News

What Tax Reform Bills Are All About- Senate

Published

2 days ago

November 29, 2024

Thebig Eye

………Set for Public hearing with stakeholders

The Senate Thursday led Nigerians into the general objectives of the Tax Reform Bills

The Bills are a set of four proposed piece of legislation aimed at increasing value-added tax (VAT) distributable to the subnational governments to 55% while reducing the federal government’s share to 10%.

The new legislative regimes also proposed zero VAT on exports and essential consumptions by the masses and grant of input VAT credit on assets and services in addition to goods consumed by businesses to lower the cost of production

The breakdown of the general objectives of the Bill were let out in the lead debate by Senate Leader , Opeyemi Bamidele

Recall that the Tinubu administration had proposed the Tax Reform Bills comprising the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2024; Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2024; Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2024 and Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024.

The bills elicited mixed reactions from across board

Key stakeholders such ad the Chairman, Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele and Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji were invited to give perspectives about the Bills.

Leading debate at the plenary, Bamidele reeled out far-reaching proposals contained in the Tax Reform Bills, which according to him, aims at simplifying the tax landscape, reducing the burden on small business and streamlining how taxes are collected.

In the area of tax exemptions, Bamidele pointed out that those, whose salaries are not more than the minimum wage from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) deductions, would be exempted from the tax regime.

He also said small businesses with annual turnover of N50 million or less “are equally exempted from payment of taxes,” a key pro-business initiative that encourages job creation; deepens ease of doing business and incentivises more investments.

Similarly, the senate leader explained that there was a proposed huge reduction in company income tax from the current 30% to 25% that would last for at least two years.

He said: “As part of deliberate attempt to curtail the incidence of double taxation and multiplicity of taxes and levies, multiple taxes hitherto paid by companies under various tax heads namely 2.5% education tax, 0.25% NASENI tax have been harmonized into a development level of 2% which by 2030 will be applied to fund the newly established student loan scheme which will benefit many Nigerian youths.

“Unlike what is obtainable under the existing tax regime whereby the Federal Government takes a lion share of VAT revenues, it is proposed that the sharing formula should allow the State Government share 55% of VAT revenue from the current 15% to 10% sharing formula.

“However, Local Governments share of VAT revenue remains unaffected. Relatedly, basic items consumed by Nigerian households such as food items, medical services and pharmaceuticals, educational fees, electricity etc. are exempted from VAT.

“Again, as part of efforts to ease the administration of income taxes and levies across the Federation, there is a reasonable effort made to consolidate core tax statutes and related tax legislations,” Bamidele explained.

Contrary to misrepresentations in the public domain regarding the intendment of the Bills under consideration, Bamidele explained that the bills contained innovative and people-oriented proposals as part of the government’s deliberate fiscal and tax reform measures to cushion the effect of ongoing broader economic policies such as the removal of subsidy on petroleum products, renewed efforts to implement cost -reflective electricity tariffs in the power sector etc on Nigerian citizens.

In his contribution, former Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) claimed that his problem was about timing and the issue of derivation.

He added that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) must be amended before the Tax Reform Bills should take effect, therefore calling for its immediate withdrawal.

Ndume observed: “I am not against the reform, my problem is timing and the issue of derivation make the reform contagious. The 1999 Constitution has to be amended before the bills can be effective.”

However, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Mohammed Munguno (Borno North) expressed strong objection to Ndume’s submissions, asking the Senate to disregard it and pass the bills for second reading.

Munguno urged the Senate to pass the bill into second reading, advocating that all areas of concern would be addressed at the public hearing stage.

After the debate that featured Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa and Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology, Senator Seriake Dickson, the Senate unanimously passed the bills into second reading following Munguno’s final position.

In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Finance, advising the Committee to invite all the stakeholders to the public hearing to address all areas of concern.

News

Port Harcourt Refinery, Another Grand Deception From NNPCL -Coalition

Published

4 days ago

November 27, 2024

Thebig Eye

***warns Kyari, others not to mislead Tinubu, Nigerians

As reactions continue to thrill the announcement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), that the Port Harcourt refinery has been activated for operation; a group of Civil Society Organisations has called for great caution.

The groups, under the aegis of Coalition for Accountability and Transparency in Energy Sector (CATES), said what the NNPCL was glorifying was not a full fledged refinery which Nigerians paid for.

In a statement on Wednesday by the Spokesperson of the Coalition, Dr. Linus Ikwur, the groups alluded that, despite the public outcry from stakeholders, organisations and individuals, warning against turning the Port Harcourt refinery to a blending plant, the NNPCL made good its intention and damned whatever would come out of it.

The coalition described the much celebrated Port Harcourt refinery as “what I ordered, vs what I got”, saying, the NNPCL did not mean well for the country and the citizenry, by converting the heritage refinery in Port Harcourt to a mere blending plant, despite receiving huge funds to operationalize it.

“The NNPCL was given money to turn Port Harcourt into a full fledged refinery. But now they want to turn the place into a blending plant, despite the public outcry on the dangers of having a blending plant in the region that is already suffering environmental degredation.

“Nigerians paid for a refinery and not a blending plant. This is a clear case of what I ordered vs what I got.

“There’s a need for great accountability, transparency and probity in ensuring that the refineries operate at 100% capacity and not as a blending plant”, the statement said.

Speaking further, the Coalition expressed great disappointment with the announcement of NNPCL, confirming that the refinery was to serve as a blending plant, which it described as a global practise; warning that the agency should cease the deception forthwith.

Dr. Ikwur said, “to us, it did not come as a surprise, because we saw it coming and we have raised enough alarms, so that it could be averted, but the authority kept calm, until the NNPCL perfected its plan to convert our heritage refinery into a blending plant. But we were highly disappointed, that the NNPCL misled Nigerians, including President Bola Tinubu into believing that the Port Harcourt refinery had come back to live.

“It took the great effort of the the media, Sahara Reporters in particular, to confirm our claims that Nigerians were indeed celebrating a blending plant, and not a refinery. Nigerians are too wise for that grand deception and Mr. President should not fall for that kind of cheap attempt to score political goals by the NNPCL.

“Mele Kyari and his cohorts should stop misleading the President. They should rather come out and explain how the over N17 trillion expended on our local refineries went and why is it that none of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries is working, after receiving such a humongous funding”.

It would be recalled that, the NNPC posted on its X handle on Tuesday, saying: “NNPC Ltd Delivers Port Harcourt Refinery as plant begins truckout of products today, Tuesday 26th November 2024 at 1.45 pm.

“Watch the commissioning and trucking out event LIVE.”

But Sahara Reporters, in an exclusive report Tuesday night, exposed that, the NNPCL “is not trucking out Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, from the Port Harcourt Refinery as it claimed on Tuesday”, claiming a top source within the system revealed it.

Instead, it said the NNPCL bought “Cracked C5 petroleum resins” and blended it with other products including Naphtha to sell to the Nigerian public as though the refinery processed it.

“The plant is running but it is the old one of 60,000bpd capacity but you can’t get PMS from it except diesel. The part that produces PMS is yet to start.

“If you hear they are trucking out PMS from the depot, know it is a lie. They bought Crack C5 from Indorama company in Port Harcourt and blended it with Naphtha to sell to the public”, the source told Sahara Reporters.

Unexpectedly, the Spokesperson for the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye swiftly confirmed the claims in a statement Tuesday night, saying, “blending is a standard practice in refineries globally”.

Soneye said, “It is worth noting that the refinery incorporates crack C5, a blending component from our sister company, Indorama Petrochemicals (formerly Eleme Petrochemicals), to produce gasoline that meets required specifications.

“Blending is a standard practice in refineries globally, as no single unit can produce gasoline that fully complies with any country’s standards without such processes. Additionally, we have made substantial progress on the new Port Harcourt Refinery, which will begin operations soon without prior announcements”.