The House of Representatives has announced plan to review the N11.3 trillion the Federal Government allegedly spent on refineries’ maintenance from 2010 to 2020.
Bamidele Salam (Osun: Ede North, Ede South, Egbedore, Ejigbo), Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, revealed this during a briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the aim of the probe is to address the increasing cost of petroleum products due to the removal of fuel subsidy.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had announced that maintenance work on the 210,000 bpd Port Harcourt refinery will be completed and it will begin operation by December.
According to the NNPCL, contracts for the maintenance of the Kaduna and Warri refineries cost about $1.4 billion. The total cost for all four refineries was put at about $2.7 billion.
Meanwhile, while addressing journalists, Salam expressed concern over the deplorable state of Nigeria’s refineries despite the significant amount of money spent on their maintenance over the past decade.
He said the era of squandering public funds on unproductive projects without consequences was at an end.
His committee, he said, also plans to conduct a thorough examination of the federal government’s accounts and those of the MDAs to uncover wastage, inefficiency, and corruption in the public sector.
He expressed optimism in President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s efforts to revitalise the Nigerian economy.