Two civil society organisations, OilWatch Nigeria and Workers’ Rights Alliance, have petitioned President Bola Tinubu, claiming that the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, misled the public over the shutdown of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
In an open letter jointly signed by Emmanuel Ekpeyong of OilWatch Nigeria and Danladi Usman of Workers’ Rights Alliance, the organisations urged the President to sack Ojulari, accusing him of fabricating reasons to justify the refinery’s closure.
The petition, dated September 1 and copied to the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), stated:”On Thursday, 28th August 2025, the embattled Group CEO of NNPC Limited, Bashir Ojulari told yet another lie in the ever-changing narrative of why he made the reckless decision of shutting down Port Harcourt refinery.
“From his initial lie that the refinery was shut down because it was due for maintenance, Ojulari is now (allegedly ) peddling yet another falsehood that Port Harcourt refinery was shuttered because it was running at a monthly loss of N500million. This he stated during an interactive session with PENGASAN officials in Abuja, on Thursday, 28th August, 2025.”
The groups insisted the facility was profitable before its closure.
“Whilst it is difficult to keep track of Ojulari’s ever-evolving position on Port Harcourt refinery, the fact remains that the refinery was running profitably and earning Nigeria an average monthly profit of over $20million before Ojulari made his ill-advised decision to have the refinery shut down. This is from concrete evidence obtained from very senior NNPCL officials, who had advised Ojulari against his reckless decision,” they said.
According to the petitioners, Ojulari allegedly shut down the refinery to pave the way for its sale at “scrap value” to an allied company reportedly linked to him and Bashir Haske, who was recently declared wanted by the EFCC.
“By shutting down a fully operational refinery, Ojulari has committed unforgivable economic sabotage against the government and people of Nigeria, and no amount of lying and double speak can change that fact. We call for an independent economic analysis of the refinery’s operations, prior to its unceremonious closure by Ojulari,” the petition read.
The CSOs attached a table showing the refinery’s performance prior to the shutdown, insisting:”This refinery was running smoothly and making over $20million monthly for Nigerians. It was not running at a loss as falsely claimed by Ojulari… with unit 14 now confirmed ready for commissioning, this configuration can be achieved as soon as the refinery resumes operation, with the possibility of generating an average monthly NET profit of US$35million.”
They further added: “We call for an independent economic analysis of the refinery’s operations, prior to its unceremonious shutdown by Ojulari. Even the most uneducated eye can spot Ojulari’s lie once they look at the economic analysis we have provided. This refinery was making over N20billion monthly and not losing money as falsely asserted by Ojulari.”
