Tinubu to NUPENG: Refineries will soon resume operations

President Bola Tinubu has assured the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) that the country’s refineries will resume operations.

Tinubu gave the assurance on Thursday when he met with NUPENG leaders at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The President said the Federal Government was working to reset and structurally reposition the Nigerian economy, stressing that the mere appearance of flames or smoke from a refinery should not be taken as evidence that the facility was fully operational.

“The refineries that you mentioned are going to come back to work. We are just building a very firm reset and structural reworking of the economy,” Tinubu said.

He added that a refinery could not be considered functional simply because it was producing flames and smoke, stressing that the ultimate goal was to ensure that the facilities operated profitably and delivered value.

“Ordinary flame and smoke of the refinery doesn’t mean that it is working until it is profitable and yielding value for which it was built,” he said.

Tinubu also said he would not dwell on the failures or decisions of previous administrations, noting that he had accepted both the assets and liabilities inherited from his predecessors.

“I am not a man who will go looking back at everything because I have accepted the assets and liabilities of my predecessors, no matter what has happened in years past,” he said.

“It is my responsibility now as president and it is my duty.”

The President thanked NUPENG for recognising the importance of partnership with the government and called on the union and other stakeholders to continue working together to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy.

He said democracy, despite its challenges, remained a system that provided citizens with freedom and opportunities that should be protected and cherished.

“We all worked together to bring about this democracy. And democracy is about celebration of freedom and opportunities that must be cherished by all of us,” Tinubu said.