A pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has urged the Federal Government to meet the December deadline for the operationalization of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The Pa Reuben Fasoranti-led group, in a statement after its meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, this week, said meeting the December deadline will cushion the biting effect of the removal of subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petroleum, on Nigerians.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, had in August pledged that the Port Harcourt refinery would be back on stream by December.
According to the minister, the measure was part of the government’s commitment to ending petroleum product importation.
With the removal of petrol subsidies in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, the price per litre of petrol rose from N184 to over N600 in most parts of the country.
With the December deadline already here, Afenifere, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Jare Ajayi, urged the administration of President Bola Tinubu to meet the deadline.
Afenifere “urged the government to ensure that the deadlines given are adhered to.”
“For instance, the December deadline given for Port Harcourt Refinery to resume production should be met. This is to bring the cost of petroleum products down, as the high costs of these products are contributing to the soaring prices of commodities and services in the country,” the statement partly read.
