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House Committee investigates stalled refinery projects amid corruption claims
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Billions allegedly misappropriated despite non-functional refineries
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Reps demand answers from NNPC, contractors on failed rehabilitation
The House of Representatives has opened a sweeping investigation into Nigeria’s ailing refineries, accusing officials of fraud, gross mismanagement, and misappropriation of billions of naira earmarked for rehabilitation projects that never took off.
Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, disclosed this on Wednesday following a special session triggered by multiple public petitions.
Despite massive funds allocated to revamp the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, all facilities remain shut, raising damning questions over transparency and whether Nigerians were deceived by the project’s handlers.
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“The committee, after reviewing alarming complaints, has launched a full-scale investigation into the state of our refineries,” Ugochinyere said.
Ugochinyere said the committee would probe key players, including officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and contractors, to determine how and why such a critical national assignment failed despite sustained funding.
He described the refineries as assets jointly owned by federal and state governments, insisting it was the constitutional duty of lawmakers to unravel what went wrong and ensure accountability.
“Billions were spent, yet no result. Was the public deceived? Was the project dead on arrival? What roles did managers and NNPC officials play? These are the questions the committee will answer,” he declared.
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The lawmakers are also investigating reports that by-products from the refineries were either misused, undervalued, or diverted for public relations campaigns, rather than being reinvested into the petroleum sector.
Ugochinyere added that the committee would evaluate all contracts, technical compliance levels, and the capacity of contractors to deliver, warning that any evidence of dereliction or embezzlement would attract serious parliamentary action.
The investigation’s outcome, he noted, will guide potential legal measures and shape new legislative frameworks aimed at sanitising the oil sector.
