Rather than view Tuesday’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and Niger Republic for the building of a new refinery as a boost in the country’s refining capacity, stakeholders and civil society groups view it as an incredibly parochial move aimed at satisfying sectional interest.

In fact, some experts are calling for the immediate cessation of the Federal Government’s involvement in the project, insisting that it was unreasonable for a country, which has failed to optimise the production capacity of four existing refineries, to enter into a new MoU for a new plant, instead of fixing the comatose ones.

President Muhammadu Buhari, and his Nigerien counterpart, Mahamadou Issoufou, signed the document for the proposed facility, which is expected to come on stream between two to three years, and produce 150, 000 barrels per day (bpd).

Former President, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Abiodun Adesanya, who is also the Managing Director, Degeconek Nigeria Ltd, noted that government would have considered extending pipeline from Niger to the Kaduna refinery, instead of building a new refinery in Katsina.

Similarly, the chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Joint Committee on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Chika Onuegbu, said the government is sending conflicting signals to the people of the Niger Delta with this development.

According to him, “Mixed signals in the sense that people had expected that refineries in the Niger Delta should be working and in very good condition, and that investors should be encouraged to build more refineries in the Niger Delta since the area is closer to the country’s source of crude. Unfortunately, we have seen Dangote go to Lagos to build a refinery, and then, we are seeing the Federal Government going to Katisna to build another refinery.” he said.

On his part, the Managing Partner, Chancery Associates, Emeka Okwuosa, described the project as elusive, stressing that government should have waited for the success of over 45 private refineries currently licensed in the country before constructing a new one.

He is of the view that the project would not pass any economic test, just as it does not have the support of the masses. Consequently, he wants the government to scrap it and take on projects that would meaningfully impact on the masses.

Views of stakeholders notwithstanding, Minister Ibe Kachikwu, believes that the initiative remains one of the best steps this administration has ever taken.

Speaking shortly after the signing of the MoU, Kachikwu said: “We hope that as the project goes over the next two years, we will probably have more feed-stock to power a much bigger refinery,” he said.

Already, a steering committee, chaired by the minister, and a senior level joint technical team, with a December 2018 deadline for the unveiling of a roadmap for the project has been constituted.

On security challenges in the region, Kachikwu stated that the country would not achieve anything meaningful if it fails to try.

He said: “if we bother about insecurity we are not going to make progress. Security issues are there, we will deal with them. Niger hasn’t faced much of a security issue in terms of finding its crude, the distance in the pipeline corridor is going to be short and hopefully, technology will bury it sufficiently for it not to be an issue.”

•Excerpted from The Guardian report

•Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu (right); President Muhammadu Buhari; his Nigerien counterpart, Mahamadou Issoufou; and the country’s Minister of Energy, Foumakoye Dado; during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for hydrocarbon pipeline and refinery projects between Nigeria and Niger at the State House, Abuja… recently. PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA