Govt has no business running refineries, says Osinbajo

The Vice President , Prof . Yemi Osinbajo , has said the problems associated with Nigeria’ s refineries will persist if the Federal Government continues to own and run them .

Osinbajo said this at a virtual meeting organised for the All Progressives Congress social media bloggers and influencers at the APC National Secretariat , in Abuja, Monday.

He said “ If the refinery is left in the hands of the government , it will continue to experience the same problem it is experiencing now . I do not think that it is the business of the government to run the refinery . It should be the business of the private sector , which is why we are trying to focus on assisting the private sector to develop modular refineries .

“ There is a 100, 000 - barrel capacity refinery about to come on stream and we hope it will by the next year . It is completely private and closely located near the Port Harcourt refinery so that it can share the facilities of the Port Harcourt refinery . We are hopeful it will come on stream in the first quarter of next year .

“ There are also six modular refineries that are almost ready . There is Niger Delta Petroleum refinery in Delta state , there is another one in Imo , there is also another modular refinery in Edo State .

“ The whole idea is to support as many private refineries as possible . We are also waiting for the Dangote Refinery with 250, 000 barrels capacity which is bigger than all of the government refineries put together . ”