As Nigerians groan under the heavy hardship occasioned by the removal of subsidy on petroleum products and subsequent free fall of the Naira, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) has embarked on a multi-billion naira remodeling of the its Headquarters complex in Abuja.
The identical 15 storey 4-tower complex located on Herbert Macauley Way, Garki Abuja is currently undergoing a makeover involving covering the entire 15 storey buildings in reinforced glass.
A visit to the expansive complex one notices that the one of the buildings identified as the “Minister’s block” by a staff who spoke on the condition of anonymity has been completed while two of the buildings are currently being worked on.
One of the staff of the national oil company told FACTSHEET that “even those of us that are staff are not happy that the corporation is spending so much to renovate the offices when our refineries are not working”
“We are also Nigerians and we know what is happening out there, many of us hide our identity cards because of the way we are all seen as criminals who are enjoying while the rest of the country is suffering,” he lamented.
The NNPC on March 2021 awarded a £1.08bn ($1.5bn) contract to Italian firm, Tecnimont for the rehabilitation and upgrade of the combined 210,000 barrel per day Port Harcourt Refinery.
Also, in April 2021 the corporation awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth £1.08bn ($1.5bn) for full rehabilitation of the refinery complex in April 2021.
Earlier in 2019 two subsidiaries of Maire Tecnimont in Nigeria, were awarded a contract in the sum of $50m for the integrity check the Port Harcourt Refinery as a precondition for the maintenance and upgrade.
Similarly, in August 2021, the NNPCL awarded contracts worth $1.48bn for the rehabilitation of the Warri Refinery and another $2.76bn for the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Kaduna Refinery, but since the contracts were awarded no words have come from the NNPCL on the state of the rehabilitations.
Nigeria continues to depend on importation of petroleum products leaving consumers at the mercy of international price speculators.
Although, the rehabilitation and upgrade is expected to be completed in 2025, the NNPCL has not given any update on the projects there is a strong indication that the rehabilitation of the refinery may already have been stalled.
