Tinubu assures refineries will return as NUPENG raises casualisation and depot concerns
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday assured Nigerians that the nation’s refineries will bounce back. He also lamented that the expected benefits from the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) are largely going into the pockets of truck owners.
The President spoke while receiving the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. He described the union as a critical partner and recalled his pre-election stance that the fuel subsidy would be removed regardless of strike threats. He said workers at local, state and federal levels are now receiving salaries more promptly and that major road projects—including Lagos–Ibadan, Abuja–Kaduna, Abuja–Kano and Sokoto–Badagry—are under way. He promised to publish details of how subsidy savings are being used.
On CNG, Tinubu appealed for the benefits to reach ordinary commuters rather than remaining with truck owners. On the refineries, he said they would return to productive operation once the economic structure supporting them is properly reset. Visible flame and smoke, he noted, do not by themselves prove that a refinery is delivering value. He accepted responsibility for the assets and liabilities inherited from previous administrations and said he would not spend time assigning blame.
NUPENG president Comrade Salimon Akanni Oladiti earlier urged the President to curb the casualisation of workers in the oil industry, particularly in the upstream sector. He said efforts to persuade companies to end the practice had yielded little success and that the unions had refrained from industrial action to avoid wider economic disruption. He also asked that the same energy applied to the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries be extended to the Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC) depots, recommending private equity-style management to revive them. He commended progress on federal highway rehabilitation for improving safety for tanker drivers.
The exchange places two structural issues side by side: the long-term commercial viability of state-owned refining and storage assets, and the terms of employment in a sector treated as the economy’s jugular. Tinubu’s assurance on the refineries is framed as a work in progress rather than an immediate claim of full recovery. NUPENG’s concerns highlight the gap between official rehabilitation efforts and the daily conditions of workers and the condition of downstream infrastructure.
