Again, Reps panel summons Mele Kyari, Sylva, over state of refineries

The house of representatives’ ad hoc committee on the state of refineries in Nigeria has summoned Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources and Mele Kyari, the group managing director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited. 

The committee also summoned the general managers of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited to appear before it unfailingly on April 28.

In January, the house had set up a committee to investigate the status of the nation’s refineries. 

The committee had previously summoned officials to the investigative hearing, but it was not honoured. 

At a press briefing on Thursday, the committee noted that the officials had allegedly shunned a series of invitations to its investigative hearing. 

Ganiyu Johnson, chairman of the committee, recalled that Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house, had constituted the committee to determine the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries and what is needed to revive the refineries to maximum refining capacity.

“The committee, therefore, relying on relevant laws and pursuant to the provisions of Sections 62, 88, and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), requested the GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to forward a status report on the nation’s Refineries and the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries from 2012 to date,” Johnson said. 

The chairman said the details requested from Kyari included an appraisal of the current state of refineries in the country from the year 2012 to date.

Others are copies of annual budgets on rehabilitation of the refineries from the year 2012 to date and a list of approvals/fund releases for rehabilitation of refineries from 2012 to date. 

The committee also demanded the list of all contracts awarded for the rehabilitation of refineries and award letters issued to service providers and contractors from 2012 to date. 

Furthermore, it demanded the actual cost of projects (contracts) and review (if any) stated in naira; work completion certificates issued on rehabilitation projects carried out on refineries from the year 2012 to date; evidence of payments made for all such contracts awarded from the year 2012 to date. 

The list of service providers and contractors that handled the rehabilitation of refineries from 2012 to date and any other relevant information to assist the committee.

“We are compelled to make this press statement because of the continued refusal and flagrant disregard of the GMD of the NNPC, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries to the invitations to appear before the committee,” Johnson said. 

“We consider this continued refusal and negligence to appear before the committee as disrespect to the leadership of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The committee is worried that the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refinery and Petrochemicals Company and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company had all been operating at gross losses since 2010 before they were finally shut down in 2019.”