www.desertherald.com/4-years-after-pact-with-chinesefgs-n3-7tr-refineries-project-yet-to-take-off/

By Mohammed Shosanya (Lagos), Usman A. Bello (Lokoja) & Chris Eze

Four years after the Federal Government and a Chinese consortium signed an agreement for the construction of three greenfield refineries in Lagos, Balyesa and Kogi states, no construction work hasstarted at the sites of the project, Daily
Trust investigation has shown.

The refineries project, which is to cost
$23 billion (equivalent N3.7 trillion), was
initiated to shore up the nation’s
petroleum refining capacity that has for
decades remained at 445,000 barrels per
day.

Nigeria imports almost all its fuel because
the existing four refineries are in
disrepair and operate below installed
capacity.
The Federal Government signed the
greenfield refineries project agreement
on May 13, 2010 with a completion period
of five years.

Based on the terms, 80 percent of the
cost is to be funded with a loan provided
by China Export Credit Insurance
Corporation (SINOSURE) and a consortium
of Chinese banks, led by the Industrial
and Commercial Bank of China. The
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) is to provide 20 percent of the
funding as equity contribution.

A Daily Trust investigation found that no
tangible work has been executed at the
three project sites, with just a year to the
end of the period projected for
completing the refineries.
But NNPC said the project was on course,
and that the corporation was awaiting a
white paper on the report of a task force
that reviewed the plan on building the
new refineries.

Land compensation
At one of the sites in Lekki area of Lagos,
there was no evidence of plan to have a
refinery there by next year.
The large expanse of land meant for the
project has some demarcation but no
concrete structures to show evidence of
any serious work.

In Bayelsa State, the land for one of the
refineries has been acquired in Otuoke,
the hometown of President Goodluck
Jonathan, according to local leaders. But
no structure has been built since the
acquisition of the land.
Secretary, Otuoke Community
Development Committee, Pastor
Emmanuel Egede, told Daily Trust that the
Nigerian Content Development and
Monitoring Board visited the site recently
and held a meeting with Otuoke people.

He said the meeting was on arrangement
being made to compensate the land
owners, and on how to involve locals in
the project.
He said also the NCDMB team gave
assurances that work would begin soon.
At Ugbogiri, the refinery site in Kogi
State, farmers are still cultivating the
land, four years after the project was
initiated.

Daily Trust reports that the issue of where
to locate the refinery in Kogi State stoked
controversy at first. In 2010, then-
Governor Ibrahim Idris gave out land at
Itobe in Offu local government for the
refinery to be located.
But this was later changed to Ebiya-
Ugbogiri in Ajaokuta local government.
Our reporter who visited the site at
Ugbogiri observed that part of the land is
being cultivated by farmers while the
remaining portion lays fallow. There is not
even a signpost to indicate that this is the
proposed location for one of the three
new refineries.

Resident of the community, Mr Audu
Usman, said since government officials
came to see the place nothing has
happened there except farming activities.
Farmers who spoke to our reporter said
they continued cultivating the land
because government appeared not ready
to start the project, adding that they were
willing to vacate the land when the
project is to start.

Another farmer, Isah Muhammed, said
they were not yet paid compensation for
their land.
For his part, community Chief Yusuf
Aka’aba blamed local politics for the initial
hiccups on siting of the refinery, saying
from the onset it was billed to be located
at Ugbogri but was taken to Itobe because
of politics.

“We are appealing to the government to
do what is right and start the project
because if nothing is done there now after
election in 2015, it will still go back to
politiking again and nothing would be
done on it,” he added.


Project on course’
When contacted, the NNPC told Daily
Trust that the effort to build the three
refineries is still on.
The corporation’s spokesman Ohi Alegbe
said a National Refineries Special Task
Force was set up by the Petroleum
Minister on February 6, 2012 with a
mandate to seek new ideas and design
financial models across the value chain for
the building of adequate capacity to meet
local demand for petroleum products.

He said the task force was to also design a
blueprint for public-private partnerships
to build small, medium and large-scale
refineries across Nigeria.
“From the terms of reference of the task
force as listed above, it would be noted
that its work included proposing new
deas and designing investment models
for greenfield refineries. This effectively
meant that we had to stay action on the
greenfield refinery projects to allow the
task force complete its work,” he said.

“The task force has since submitted its
report. What government has done is to
set up a white paper committee to review
the report and come up with the Federal
Government’s position and line of action.
“We are still awaiting the white paper
report which will give us a clear direction
on which direction to proceed with regard
to the proposed greenfield refineries and
how to go about them. That is the
position, that is where we are with the
greenfield refinery projects.”

Are you a learner?this is Nigerua where contract are only done on paper

op this is nairaland no body likes reading lengthy posts

can you summarise?

OKAY

What we need from the critique is if the Federal Government's part of the deal was responsible for the delay or the investors lost of interest.

With the subsidy regime in place and uncertainty in what becomes of the market I am afraid no sensible investor would try putting his money in an uncertain future or undefined market.

Another paper project hanging in the air. Jonathan has more paper projects as his achievements than visible projects.

berem:
Another paper project hanging in the air. Jonathan has more paper projects as his achievements than visible projects.

My dear, I dey feel you...ride on joooooo!

Sirniyeh:


My dear, I dey feel you...ride on joooooo!

thank you sir! Longest time.

berem:
thank you sir! Longest time.

Please STFU!
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan remains my Mentor!

SeunEatsGARRI:


Please STFU!
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan remains my Mentor!

He is your mentor, because he is the president of nigeria, I pity you.
What a sycophant you are.

SeunEatsGARRI:


Please STFU!
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan remains my Mentor!

Garri to much for your brain

Ngwakwe:
What we need from the critique is if the Federal Government's part of the deal was responsible for the delay or the investors lost of interest.

With the subsidy regime in place and uncertainty in what becomes of the market I am afraid no sensible investor would try putting his money in an uncertain future or undefined market.

with the PIB lying in the dustbin in the house of senate, i think no reasonable investor would want to gamble with his money in the nigerian economy unles that person is dangote who has lots of connection in government making sure his investment don't go bad. But in the absense of another dangote those refineries may never see the light of the day. Case closed

Nigeria have no credible candidates in the upcoming election.

Why not APC choose someone else apart from Buhari and IBB.

We need young blood on that seat not old papa.

We need accountability.

GEJ will have my vote only if APC keep reasoning with their anus.

Buhari wiuld hav e build the refinery fiam, within two months.
He wont even use money.
You know he does not like money and does not touch it.