By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) has signed a $1.5 billion contract with Italian firm, Tecnimont SpA for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
NNPC Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, speaking on Tuesday in Abuja said that the decision to rehabilitate the refinery was justifiable.
“I and my colleagues in NNPC, we are over 7,000, and this moment, we are very proud to say we have done the right thing. We have done the right thing because it is a very abnormal situation.”
Kyari, who reacted to Nigerians questioning the $1.5 billion cost, he said, “First and foremost, we all agree that no one will drag in labour unions, transparency international, infrastructure concessioning and regulatory agency of the country into a tender process. If we had anything to hide or worry about, we won’t do this.
“I and my colleagues, we are very proud that we did this so that this tender process which culminated in this event of today is monumental history for us.
“We are aware of the many of the misgivings in the public space around cost, around political compromises, even around potentially why do we even have to do this. We understand this.
“Some people in their own world because if they have the opportunity, this is what they would do. If they have the opportunity they would hiked up the cost, they would have seen it as an opportunity to make or earn income that they have not worked for. They would also see it as an opportunity for political patronage.
“As we speak, I can confirm to you that if I see the COO Tecniomont, I cannot recognize him. As a matter of fact when I came in, I had difficulty remembering whether I had met him, with due respect”, he stated.
According to the Vanguard, Kyari noted that NNPC had in the past made mistakes on strategies on refineries, but are determined to fix the refineries.
Naturenews recalls that the Federal Executive Council had approved the rehabilitation of the 210,000 barrels per day refinery.