The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has demanded that President Bola Tinubu account for the trillions of naira spent on Nigeria’s refineries under his administration. Atiku questioned the increase in the combined obligations of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which he said rose from about ₦4.52 trillion at the end of 2023 to ₦8.67 trillion at the end of 2024.

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In a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku questioned the additional ₦4.15 trillion recorded within one year. He also criticised the Federal Government for previously announcing the resumption of operations at the Port Harcourt refinery at 70 per cent capacity in November 2024, while now distancing itself from the facilities following NNPCL’s admission that they were operating at what he described as a “monumental loss.” Atiku urged the administration to explain what Nigerians received in return for the additional expenditure.

Atiku argued that the amount involved could have been deployed to critical sectors, including education, healthcare, roads, electricity and potable water. “If the combined obligations of these refineries jumped by more than ₦4 trillion in 2024 alone, what exactly did Nigerians receive in return? Where did the money go? Where are the products? Where are the savings Nigerians were promised?” he asked. He further accused the administration of failing in its responsibility to account for public resources, insisting that a government cannot take credit for successes while blaming previous administrations for failures.