The controversy surrounding the commencement of the processing of crude oil from the Port Harcourt Refining Company will not be abating anytime soon as stakeholders have told newsmen that heads must roll at the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPCL), if Nigerians were deceived about the production status of the complex.
Recall that last Tuesday, Nigerias major oil company, the NNPCL, had told surprised Nigerians that it had fulfilled its pledge of re-streaming the Port Harcourt Refining Company. The NNPCL added that the action would signal the commencement of crude oil processing from the plant and delivery of petroleum products into the market.
As the icing on the cake, the NNPCL revealed that trucks had begun loading petroleum products which include Premium Motor Spirit, aka petrol, Automotive Gas Oil, or diesel, and Household Kerosene, or kerosene, while other product slates would be dispatched as well.
And to add a bit of fanfare, when the NNPCL made the announcement, its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, described the commencement of the load-out activities as a monumental achievement for Nigeria, which signifies a new era of energy independence and economic growth for the country.
However, what the NNPCL did not tell Nigerians then was whether the governments two refineries in Rivers State, the Old Port Harcourt refinery and the New Port Harcourt refinery, had been integrated with one single terminal for product load-out. Consequently, it did not take long before suspicion set-in and Nigerians wasted no time in questioning the validity of the information being peddled by the NNPCL concerning the PHRC.
In an issued statement, last week Friday, the NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, lampooned Mgbere for his scant knowledge of how refineries work, stressing that the old and new Port Harcourt Refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for product load-out.
Many new reports making the rounds, however, indicate that there are no signs of activity at the refinery and that the edifice is undergoing calibration which might span till this week.
Workers at the refinery have also somewhat substantiated the claims made by Mgbere, the secretary of the Alesa Stakeholders that the loaded trucks shown to Nigerians were the old product that had been in the system.
Nigerians have, because of all the back-and-forth associated with the refinery, said that there is likely a political undercurrent to what is happening at the Port Harcourt refinery.
Analysts, too, say that past governments may have used past re-openings of moribund refineries in Nigeria to score cheap political points, and so Nigerians, with one voice, insist that the way forward is for the government to conduct a thorough investigation and hold anyone, if he or she is found wanting, culpable for any act of deceit in the refining capability of the refinery.
However, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), said it finds it hard to believe that everything displayed so far by the refinery was a mirage. Its National Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Ukadike, said that the independent marketers would still believe the NNPC until the loading of PMS at the refinery fails to continue in the next few days.
According to him, the host community might be trying to settle personal disagreements with the refinery, which IPMAN would not want to dabble into.
