Tinubu Assures NUPENG Refineries Will Resume Operations

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured petroleum workers that Nigeria’s refineries will return to full operation after years of largely remaining inactive.

Tinubu gave the assurance on Thursday when he received the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The President said the mere presence of flames or smoke at a refinery does not necessarily mean the facility is operating effectively. He stressed that the refineries must be commercially viable and deliver the value for which they were established.

> “The refineries that you mentioned are going to come back to work,” Tinubu said.

The President also said he had accepted responsibility for addressing the assets and liabilities inherited from previous administrations, regardless of past challenges.

Tinubu further defended his administration’s economic policies, saying regular payment of salaries to workers at the federal, state and local government levels was helping to stimulate businesses and support families.

He said the government had also secured funding for major long-term infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna, Abuja-Kano and Sokoto-Badagry roads.

The President urged NUPENG to ensure that the benefits of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) reach commuters, noting that the impact had not spread as quickly as he expected.

Earlier, NUPENG President Salimon Oladiti raised concerns over the continued casualisation of workers in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector. He appealed to the President to intervene and end the practice.

Oladiti also commended the government’s road rehabilitation programme and efforts to revive the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries through partnerships with Chinese companies.

He called on the government to extend the rehabilitation efforts to Nigeria’s deteriorating petroleum depots, suggesting that they could be handed over to private investors through equity partnerships.

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