The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu has said the federal government does not have the required fund to fix the nation's refineries in order to halt importation of petroleum products. The Minister stated this on Wednesday while briefing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting.
He disclosed that because of the financial situation, the Federal Government had to raise money through a public-private partnership.
According to him;
"As a seasoned professional, I have given all the guidance that is required to fix the refineries. We came into a situation where we don’t have money to fix the refineries. We had to raise the money looking into the PPP model; it has to go through a process.
The technical committee is headed by the NNPC. Obviously they'll submit their report to the board when they complete their work. So, from a governance and guidance sense, steering point of view, I think that steering is right on track, from a management of the technical aspect of the contracting, that is something we would have to allow NNPC handle, it is not the job of the ministry to superimpose, you’ve got to let them do their work and do it efficiently."
