A coalition of oil sector reform advocates has criticised the latest agreement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Chinese firms to revive the country’s refineries, describing it as a recycling of failed strategies and a sign of weak accountability in the management of public resources.
The group, the Centre for Energy Sector Transparency (CEST), stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its Executive Director, Dr Oghenetega Edafe, following the announcement of a new memorandum of understanding for a proposed technical equity partnership.
The agreement aims to complete rehabilitation works and restart operations at the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, which have remained largely inactive despite several rounds of government-funded turnaround maintenance.
Edafe said the development raises concerns about fiscal discipline, policy consistency, and the lack of accountability for previous investments totalling billions of dollars.
“What Nigerians are witnessing is a troubling pattern of policy repetition without reflection. The same refineries that have consumed enormous public funds over the years are once again at the centre of new agreements, yet there has been no transparent accounting of what has already been spent or why those investments failed to deliver results,” he said.
The group referenced earlier approvals exceeding $1 billion for refinery rehabilitation, warning that proceeding with new partnerships without a public audit of past expenditures could erode public trust.
“It is unacceptable that after committing over one billion dollars to refinery rehabilitation, the nation is being asked to embrace another agreement without a clear and verifiable audit of previous interventions. This goes beyond policy failure to the question of how national resources are managed,” Edafe added.
While acknowledging that the technical equity model may offer potential benefits, he stressed that it does not absolve the government and NNPC Ltd of responsibility for past inefficiencies.
“The concept of bringing in technical partners with equity stakes is not inherently flawed. However, it becomes problematic when it is used as a substitute for accountability. Nigerians deserve full disclosure on how past funds were utilised, who handled project delivery and why expected outcomes were not achieved,” he said.
The group warned that without structural reforms, the proposed collaboration risks becoming another cycle of investment without sustainable results.
“What is being presented as a strategic shift may, in reality, become another expensive experiment if the underlying governance issues are not addressed. Technical expertise alone cannot fix a system that lacks transparency, oversight, and consequences for failure,” Edafe said.
The Centre called on the National Assembly and relevant anti-corruption agencies to initiate a comprehensive probe of refinery rehabilitation projects over the past decade, including contract awards, disbursements, and project execution timelines.
“This moment demands more than optimism; it demands scrutiny. We call on oversight institutions like the National Assembly, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and others to undertake a forensic examination of all funds committed to refinery rehabilitation, including the recent billion-dollar interventions. Nigerians must know what has been done with their resources and why the country is still dependent on fuel imports despite repeated promises of self-sufficiency,” he said.
The Centre added that restoring confidence in Nigeria’s oil sector would require not just new agreements, but a demonstrable commitment to transparency, accountability, and institutional integrity.
