The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has written Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, requesting for full disclosure of transactions concerning the contract for three Greenfield refineries and petrochemical plant awarded by President Goodluck Jonathan on May 13, 2010, at a cost of $23 billion.
Writing under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, the CNPP through its national publicity secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, asked the Minister to explain why the projects were dead on arrival “as six years down the line, neither the three Greenfield refineries or petrochemical plant is under construction”.
The letter dated 9th March, 2015 was titled, ‘Request for Information on three Greenfield refineries’.
It reads: “May I under the Freedom of Information Act 2011, request for the full disclosure of transactions concerning the three Greenfield refineries and petrochemical plant contract awarded on 13th May 2010 by President Goodluck Jonathan to Chinese State Construction and Engineering Corporation Limited (CSCEC), at $23 billion meant to be located at Bayelsa, Kogi and Lagos States.
“Secondly, why are they dead on arrival as six years down the line, neither the three Greenfield refineries nor petrochemical plant is under construction.
“The three Greenfield refineries one understands, on completion were to add 750,000 barrels per day capacity to Nigeria’s refining infrastructure and create over a million jobs.
“In addition, the petrochemical plant was to source natural gas from Nigeria’s gas master plan, produce polymers, solvents and fertilizer, thus boosting food production and textile industry.
“Accordingly, the three refineries and the petrochemical plant could have stemmed the flood of imported refined products in the country, hence ploughing back the over $10 billion spent annually into our economy”.
The CNPP chief wondered if the failure to execute the projects at a time President Goodluck Jonathan was sitting on top of $17 billion Excess Crude Funds has not exposed the President and the Minister as instrumental to the economic adversities millions of Nigerians were unduly subjected to presently.
Okechukwu made it clear to the Minister that the abandonment of such critical refining infrastructure stimulated closure of factories, crash of the naira, gross unemployment, return of huge debt trap and fuel scarcity, to mention but a few.
“For example, in defining the fuel scarcity, it was as if you are no more coordinating the economy as the reasons adduced by your good self invalidated earlier reason proffered by the government agency mandated to deal with refined projects and even Mr. President, ‘I want to emphasize that contrary to some unfounded speculations, the queues are not caused by payment issues, hence preferring temporary solution to permanent problem” he stated.
Okechukwu stated that in the light of the unintended consequences of the Minister’s less than people oriented economic policies, one request full disclosure on the contract for the three Greenfield refineries and prechemical plant awarded to Chinese State Construction and Engineering Corporation Limited (CSCEC).
He maintained that Nigerians needed to know the true facts in the most likely scenario of their regime being voted out of office on 28th March 2015 presidential election.
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