A civil society group, Concerned Citizens of Nigeria, has challenged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over its claims that the Port Harcourt Refinery has commenced operations.

At a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, the group alleged that the refinery has been converted into a blending plant and that NNPCL is planning to sell imported, substandard petrol to Nigerians as locally refined fuel.

According to a statement signed by its national coordinator, Comrade Mahmud Abdul and five others, the group said the NNPCL’s announcement of the refinery’s commencement of operations is a ruse designed to deceive Nigerians.

The statement claims that the corporation has been shifting deadlines for the completion of the refinery’s repairs, leaving Nigerians to suffer from petrol shortages and high prices.

The Concerned Citizens of Nigeria also alleged that NNPCL’s plan to sell blended products will have a negative impact on engine performance and lifespan.

The statement said: “We are worried that NNPCL might have misled the country as it has yet to debunk a report it rather that bought ‘Cracked C5 petroleum resins’ and blended it with other products like Naphtha to sell to the Nigerian public as its own product.

“We invite you to note that this reported commencement of operations comes after shifts in dates on at least seven different occasions. NNPCL’s past ineptitude and unbridled corruption give us concerns that the so-called commencement of operations of the refinery has the markings of a fluke, a ruse designed to make Nigerians stop questioning the eternal deadlines that the organisation set.

“The Corporation has now made a bad situation worse by stage managing a resumption of production since it has now been established that NNPCL is not trucking out Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), better known as petrol, from its Port Harcourt Refinery.

“Instead, some videos of NNPCL branded trucks that were used to announce that the refinery has resumed operations and started trucking out PMS were mere movie productions to mislead Nigerians.

“The Concerned Citizens of Nigeria are aware that the supposed commencement was first flown as a kite by certain media platforms quoting unnamed sources, which was purely a false flag operation to test the response of Nigerians.

“The formal speech to the media by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, Femi Soneye announcing the development was only made after the organisation’s top management concluded that there were limited reactions to their flown kite.

“Our analysis of this development advised us of two possibilities. The first is that the refinery would be stressed to run for a few weeks before the NNPCL and its Mele Kyari-led management saddle the country with a bill for further repairs. A failure to succumb to this blackmail will result in the facility again becoming moribund.

“A second possibility is that NNPCL has not repaired or restored the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Limited to its heydays. This means that the refinery has been technically downgraded and retooled into a blending plant. 

“Recall that Nigerians had warned that NNPCL would turn Port Harcourt Refinery into a blending plant. Such concerns were expressed as recently as two months ago in September when some groups faulted the alleged move to convert the Port Harcourt refinery into a blending plant.

“The feeler from this latest development has confirmed that this is exactly what is happening, as petroleum products imported into Nigeria by Kyari would now be sold to Nigerians as locally refined fuel.

“A true test of whether NNPCL will release petrol from the Port Harcourt Refinery into the market would be the pricing. Mele Kyari’s NNPCL plans to sustain the current price band for petrol since that is the only way they can remain profitable from passing off imported substandard petrol as refined in Port Harcourt. “

The group, therefore, called on the Federal Government to investigate the matter and hold those found culpable to account.