Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has blamed President Bola Tinubu for worsening Nigeria’s refinery problems, stating that the president can no longer blame his predecessors for the nation’s petroleum sector challenges.
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), spoke in a statement issued on Sunday by Phrank Shaibu, his senior special assistant on public communication.
He was responding to Tinubu’s recent comments that he had accepted responsibility for the “assets and liabilities” inherited from previous administrations.
The president disclosed the remarks when the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), led by Salimon Oladiti, visited him at the presidential villa in Abuja.
He cited NNPC financial records which, according to him, showed that the combined obligations of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries to the national oil company increased from about N4.52 trillion at the end of 2023 to N8.67 trillion at the end of 2024.
“President Tinubu cannot have it both ways. When the cameras were rolling in November 2024, his government told Nigerians that the Port Harcourt refinery was back,” he said.
“Now that the celebration has turned into embarrassment, the same administration wants Nigerians to believe that the refineries are merely liabilities inherited from previous governments.
“Mr President, you claimed the refinery when you thought it was working. You cannot disown it now that the smoke has cleared.
“So, Nigerians deserve answers. If the combined obligations of these refineries jumped by more than N4 trillion in 2024 alone, what exactly did Nigerians receive in return?” he asked.
“Where did the money go? Where are the products? Where are the savings Nigerians were promised? And where is the refinery your government celebrated before television cameras?”
He added that Nigerians cannot afford another four years of what he described as wasteful spending and policy failures.
“Mr President, stop blaming your predecessors. After more than three years, you are no longer merely managing inherited liabilities. You are creating your own — and increasingly, your government itself has become the biggest liability Nigerians are being forced to carry,” he added.
