Fuel Marketers Urge Tinubu To Speed Up Refineries’ Rehabilitation

• Kazeem Badmus

President Bola Tinubu and the management of Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited have been urged to quicken action on the turnaround of the nation’s refineries.

The independent marketers branch of the National Union of Petroleum Marketers and Natural Gas Workers made the appeal through its chairman, Comrade Oluleye Olayemi, on Friday, while fielding questions from reporters shortly after he was re-elected for a second term.

OSUN DEFENDER reports that President Tinubu had promised that the Port Harcourt refinary will start operations by December.

Oluleye noted that the turnaround of the refineries would help to reduce the hardship being faced by the fuel subsidy removal among the citizens.

According to him, “The branch is in support of the position of the Nigerian Labour and NUPENG National Executive Council on the deregulation policy of the oil and gas industry.

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“While the subsidy removal can be said to be the right decision, the timing could have been deferred till the refineries become functional.

“The government should have built refineries in phases across the oil-producing states and gradually remove the subsidy. We are badly affected by deregulation. We appeal to the government that they should expedite action on the refineries’ turnaround and maintenance of our refineries.

“We are badly affected as many marketers are not loading and that affected our members who could not attend. Without renovation of the depot, many people will be jobless.”