Refineries’ll work again, Tinubu assures petroleum workers

President Bola Tinubu assured petroleum workers on Thursday that Nigeria's moribund refineries would be revived, but emphasized that their success would hinge on profitability rather than merely being operational. At a meeting with the Executive President of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Salimon Oladiti, and other union members, Tinubu stressed that a genuine reset and structural reworking of the economy were underway.

He cautioned against viewing the normal operation of a refinery as sufficient evidence of its effectiveness, urging the workers to ensure the refineries generate value for which they were built. Tinubu also addressed concerns raised by vehicle and truck owners who have switched to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), urging them to share the resulting cost savings with commuters instead of retaining all benefits for themselves.

He explained that the benefits of CNG were currently accruing to truck owners rather than reaching the commuters, and called for a more equitable distribution of these savings. Tinubu linked both commitments to the broader fiscal reset his administration has been pursuing since 2023, highlighting the availability of funding for major road infrastructure projects as a direct outcome of these reforms.

He expressed gratitude for the union's partnership and the progress made, including the successful rehabilitation of major road networks across Nigeria. The President also addressed the issue of casualization of workers in the upstream oil and gas sector, urging the union to work with affected companies to address this persistent issue.

Tinubu emphasized his responsibility to fix the economy and bring relief to the population, promising that the benefits of these reforms would be widely shared.