Tinubu promises to restore refineries to full value

ABUJA, Nigeria, August 14, 2026: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pledged to revive Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, telling Salimon Akanni Oladiti, President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, and other NUPENG executives at the State House in Abuja on Thursday, August 13, 2026, that the facilities will not be allowed to become stranded national assets.

The President made the commitment after NUPENG appealed for renewed efforts to restore the refineries, arguing that functional domestic refining capacity would strengthen energy security, reduce dependence on imported petroleum products and create more opportunities for Nigerian petroleum workers.

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Tinubu said the government would approach the challenge through detailed research, technical assessment, restructuring and stronger management rather than relying on temporary interventions.

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

The President added that visible activity at a refinery should not automatically be taken as evidence of commercial success.

“Ordinary flame and smoke of a refinery doesn’t mean that it’s working until it’s profitable and yields the value for which it is built,” he said.

The remarks provide a significant qualification to the administration’s refinery policy.

Rather than simply restoring physical operations, Tinubu indicated that the government wants the facilities to operate sustainably and generate value.

Nigeria has spent years attempting to restore its ageing state-owned refining infrastructure.

The country’s four major government refineries are located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, while the sector has also seen a rapid expansion of private refining capacity.

The rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery has been particularly prominent in recent years.

The government previously announced the mechanical completion of the first phase of the rehabilitation programme, with the facility expected to return to production after extensive work.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has also changed the country’s refining landscape since commencing operations, providing substantial private-sector refining capacity and reducing the structural dependence on imported petrol and other refined products.

Tinubu’s third-anniversary statement in May 2026 said local refining capacity had improved Nigeria’s energy security and that the country was reducing its dependence on imported petroleum products.

The President’s latest comments suggest that the federal government still sees a strategic role for state-owned facilities despite the emergence of large private refineries.

For NUPENG, the issue is closely tied to workers’ welfare and the future of the petroleum industry.

The union’s new leadership, headed by Oladiti, has made engagement with government and industry stakeholders a central part of its early activities.

Oladiti became NUPENG president in April 2026 after the union’s sixth Quadrennial Delegates Conference in Lagos.

He pledged at the time to prioritise workers’ rights and welfare while using dialogue to improve conditions across the oil and gas industry.

Since taking office, Oladiti has led NUPENG delegations in engagements with major industry and government stakeholders, including the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and Chevron Nigeria Limited.

During Thursday’s meeting, Oladiti praised the administration’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy, describing it as a courageous measure that had freed resources for infrastructure and other areas of the economy.

He also highlighted the rehabilitation and construction of major federal highways, saying improved roads have a direct effect on the safety of tanker drivers and other petroleum workers.

“For our members, a good road is the difference between arriving home safely and never arriving at all,” Oladiti said.

The union’s appeal for refinery revival comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s continuing effort to strengthen domestic energy supply chains.

Functional refineries could reduce the need to transport imported petroleum products over long distances and potentially improve supply resilience.

However, refinery rehabilitation has historically involved major technical, financial and managerial challenges.

The scale of previous investments and repeated delays have also made the performance of government-owned facilities a subject of intense public scrutiny.

Tinubu appeared to acknowledge that history by stressing that his administration had inherited both assets and liabilities from previous governments.

“I’m not a man who goes looking back on everything because I’ve accepted the assets and liabilities of my predecessor,” the President said.

“No matter what has happened in the years past, it’s now my responsibility as president to fix it and make it work for the greatest common good of our population.”

The President also addressed the implementation of local government autonomy during the meeting, saying constitutional issues surrounding the policy were being reviewed for possible adjustments.

The meeting contained a more personal moment when Tinubu remembered the late Frank Kokori, a former NUPENG leader and prominent labour activist.

“You brought good memories of my relationship with Frank Kokori,” Tinubu said, paying tribute to Kokori’s role in the struggle for Nigeria’s return to democratic rule.

Tinubu also promised greater inclusion for NUPENG in the implementation of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas.

The President, however, challenged the union to ensure that the benefits of the CNG programme reach ordinary commuters.

Recent reporting indicates that Tinubu has expressed concern that some of the gains from CNG adoption are currently flowing mainly to truck owners rather than reaching consumers as quickly as intended.

The CNG initiative forms part of the administration’s wider attempt to reduce transport costs and diversify Nigeria’s energy mix following the removal of petrol subsidy.

Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris also praised NUPENG for recognising what he described as positive developments from the administration’s reform programme.

Idris said it was unusual for a major trade union to publicly acknowledge government policies, pointing to NUPENG’s comments on subsidy removal and infrastructure development as evidence of improved relations between organised labour and the government.

The meeting ended on a symbolic note, with NUPENG leaders decorating Tinubu as the Grand Patron of the union.

The gesture underscored the increasingly cooperative relationship between the new NUPENG leadership and the administration, although the union’s request for functioning refineries places a practical test before the government.

The challenge now is to translate the latest pledge into commercially viable operations.

As Tinubu himself acknowledged, restarting equipment is only one part of the equation.

Sustainable production, reliable management, financial discipline and technical performance will determine whether Nigeria’s refineries can finally deliver the value expected from them.

For a country that has invested heavily in refining infrastructure over decades, the stakes are high. A successful Tinubu refinery revival would strengthen domestic fuel supply, support workers and potentially reduce pressure on foreign exchange.

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For now, the President has given NUPENG and Nigerians a clear assurance: the government intends to bring the refineries back, but this time with an emphasis on making them genuinely productive and profitable.

AbdulBasit Saba

AbdulBasit Saba is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.