President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured Nigerians that the country’s state-owned refineries will return to operation, stressing that the facilities must be commercially viable and capable of delivering value to the economy.
Tinubu gave the assurance on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at the State House in Abuja, while receiving the newly elected leadership of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), led by its National President, Salimon Akanni Oladiti.
The president said the government would not rely on temporary measures to revive the refineries. Instead, it plans to undertake technical assessments, research, restructuring and improved management to address their operational, financial and structural problems.
He maintained that simply seeing smoke and flames from a refinery does not mean the facility is functioning successfully unless it is profitable and provides the value for which it was built.
Tinubu also defended the removal of the petrol subsidy, saying savings from the policy were helping government meet salary obligations and finance major infrastructure projects.
Another major issue discussed at the meeting was the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) programme. Tinubu urged petroleum transport operators to ensure that the savings generated from CNG are passed on to commuters through lower transportation costs, rather than remaining largely with vehicle and truck owners.
NUPENG, meanwhile, praised the administration’s investment in major road projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway. The union said better roads would improve the safety of tanker drivers, reduce accidents and support petroleum distribution. It also called for the revival of domestic refining capacity and an end to casualisation in the oil industry.
