House of Rep rejects $1.5 billion Proposal for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery
The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives, have rejected the proposed $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery, yesterday.
The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives, have rejected the proposed $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery, yesterday.
The minority caucus claimed the proposal was “a huge scam and a ploy by unscrupulous elements to hide under the guise of rehabilitation of the refinery to siphon public funds,”
The Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, described the figure as “outrageous and heavily inflated.”
They demanded that the cost of the rehabilitation should be reviewed, noting that the project can be executed at a far lesser price than the proposed.
According to the caucus: “This over-bloated $1.5 billion cost has again brought to the fore the prevailing unpatriotic proclivity of treasury looting and criminal diversion of public funds through inflated contracts by officials of government for their selfish interests.
“It is completely unexplainable that the sum of $1.5 billion, belonging to Nigerians, is to be funneled towards the rehabilitation of a non-profitable refinery, which has already been slated to be handed over to private hands.
“As lawmakers, we firmly reject this attempt to use the refineries to further defraud our nation. In that regard, our caucus demands an immediate review of the project on a transparent and competitive cost template, while the billions of naira that would be recovered from the surplus, should be directed to other areas of our national energy need.
“Furthermore, the minority caucus calls for immediate decisive steps towards providing required incentives to private organizations, who have shown manifest interest in establishing refineries in our country, as a sure step to meet our national energy need.”
