A coalition of oil sector reform advocates has criticised the latest agreement by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) with Chinese firms to revive Nigeria’s refineries, describing the move as a recycling of failed strategies and a worrying indication of weak accountability in the management of public resources.
Centre for Energy Sector Transparency Speaks Out
The group, Centre for Energy Sector Transparency, made its position known in a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its Executive Director, Oghenetega Edafe, following the announcement of a new memorandum of understanding between NNPC Ltd and two Chinese companies for a proposed technical equity partnership. The agreement is aimed at completing rehabilitation work and restarting operations at the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, facilities that have remained largely inactive despite several rounds of government-funded turnaround maintenance projects.
Edafe said the development raises fresh concerns about fiscal discipline, policy consistency and the absence of accountability for previous investments running into billions of dollars.
“What Nigerians are witnessing is a troubling pattern of policy repetition without reflection. The same refineries that have gulped enormous public funds over the years are once again at the centre of a fresh round of agreements, yet there has been no transparent accounting of what has already been spent or why those investments failed to deliver results,” he said.
Previous Investments Under Scrutiny
The group referenced previous government approvals of more than $1 billion for refinery rehabilitation projects, warning that moving ahead with new partnerships without a public audit of earlier expenditures undermines public confidence. “It is unacceptable that after committing over one billion dollars to refinery rehabilitation, the nation is being asked to embrace yet another agreement without a clear and verifiable audit of previous interventions. This is not just about policy failure; it is about the potential erosion of public trust in how national wealth is managed,” Edafe added.
According to the coalition, while the introduction of a technical equity partnership model may appear innovative, it does not excuse the government and NNPC Ltd from explaining past inefficiencies and alleged mismanagement. “The idea of bringing in technical partners with equity stakes is not inherently flawed. However, it becomes deeply problematic when it is introduced as a substitute for accountability. Before we speak of new partnerships, Nigerians deserve a full disclosure of how past funds were utilised, who was responsible for project delivery, and why the expected outcomes were not achieved,” he stated.
Call for Institutional Reforms
The Centre further warned that without broader institutional reforms, the proposed collaboration risks becoming another cycle of heavy investment without sustainable outcomes. “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 group called on the National Assembly and anti-corruption agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to launch a comprehensive investigation into refinery rehabilitation projects over the past decade. “This moment demands more than optimism; it demands scrutiny. We call on oversight institutions like the National Assembly, 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 coalition maintained that restoring confidence in Nigeria’s oil sector would require more than fresh agreements, stressing that transparency, accountability and institutional integrity must remain central to any long-term reform efforts.
