A public affairs analyst and civil society campaigner, Edward Abakpa, has called for the resignation of the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s state oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, citing concerns tied to the firm’s most recent Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese counterparties. Abakpa made the demand in a statement released on Tuesday.
The concern centers on an MoU in which NNPCL and two Chinese companies agreed on the restart of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries. While the company’s latest deal is framed around reviving key downstream assets, critics—including experts and prominent Nigerians—have urged that the arrangement be put on hold, describing it as yet another effort that could drain public resources without delivering clear results.
Among those who had called for suspension were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, both of whom argued that the government should pause and address prior spending concerns before moving forward with new commitments.
In response to the criticism, an NNPCL official has recently said the company will not use public funds to pursue the arrangement. However, Abakpa said the broader issue is not only the source of financing, but the lack of transparency around how refinery rehabilitation money has been handled and reported over time.
Abakpa faulted what he described as continuing opacity around expenditures for refinery repair and a new MOU involving Chinese firms. He argued that confidence in any fresh agreement is weakened by the absence of a full public audit of previous investments in refinery rehabilitation, and he questioned whether the downstream sector’s policy direction has remained consistent.
“The core question is accountability. Before entering into new arrangements, Nigerians should receive a thorough account of how more than $3.5 billion previously earmarked for refinery rehabilitation was used, what specific work was delivered, and why the refineries are still not operating effectively,” Abakpa said in the statement.
He added: “It is unacceptable that after spending over $3.5 billion on refinery rehabilitation across multiple phases, there is still no clear, commercially workable output from these facilities. Yet we are being asked to consider another arrangement with overseas partners without first closing the accountability gap from earlier efforts.”
Abakpa concluded: “We cannot construct new partnerships on a base of unanswered concerns. Until Nigerians are given a precise explanation of what became of the $3.5 billion already spent, any new deal will be treated with suspicion.”
