General
Closure of PH Refinery Petrol Producing Unit Worries Stakeholders
By Adedapo Adesanya
Stakeholders have expressed worries as the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) has commenced the shutdown of its Area 5 (60,000 barrels per day capacity old refinery plant) for routine turnaround maintenance.
Over the weekend, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said the move was aimed at boosting efficiency and operational performance.
In a statement signed by Mr Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Limited said the shutdown will allow for scheduled maintenance and a sustainability assessment of the facility.
“This scheduled maintenance and sustainability assessment will commence on May 24, 2025,” the company stated, adding that it is working with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to ensure transparency and efficiency,” it said.
The closure of the facility has sparked criticism from many quarters, with Business Post gathering that workers have been told in clear terms not to speak to external stakeholders, particularly the press.
In an internal memo titled Area 5 Plant Shutdown for Routine Turnaround Maintenance and signed by Mr Leo Njoku, Human Capital Management Lead, Operations and Maintenance, PHRC Project, the management said all operations and maintenance personnel were explicitly instructed to avoid interaction with visitors, particularly the press.
Mr Njoku in the memo also cautioned the workers against speaking to NNPC Limited top executives, government officials, and members of the press, expected on-site during the maintenance window.
“Mind your business. No interaction with external people or giving information to press people,” the memo warned.
The directive goes further to threaten disciplinary action for any employee caught speaking to the media.
“As Government workers, it is against the Labour Law to engage pressmen in interviews. It attracts its sanctions. HCM will be monitoring staff activities during this period. There will be severe disciplinary consequences for defaulters,” the memo reads.
The strong language and tone of the memo come amid heightened public scrutiny of NNPCL operations, especially as the 30-day shutdown has sparked concern among stakeholders, as the NNPCL just six months ago on November 26th 2024 had with pomp and pageantry announced the commencement of production after seven missed deadlines.
The Area 5 plant shutdown is part of PHRC’s ongoing efforts to fully restore refining capacity after years of dormancy and partial rehabilitation.
This development comes after the Host Community Petroleum Bulk Retailers accused the refinery coordinator, Mr Bayo Aderenle, of orchestrating a plot to cripple the plant in favor of private refinery interests.
Market analysts sat this development is raising questions around transparency over the operations of the refinery.
On its part, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, has warned that any delay beyond the scheduled 30-day maintenance period could trigger fuel supply disruptions and deepen economic hardship across the country.
In a statement signed by the National PRO, Mr Joseph Obele, PETROAN acknowledged that the maintenance was necessary but insisted that the state oil firm must stick to the one month timeline to avoid supply shocks and market instability.
Quoting its National President, Mr Billy Gillis-Harry, the association is particularly worried about systemic bottlenecks that have historically plagued turnaround maintenance efforts, which may once again derail the timeline.
“The repair process must include the Premium Motor Spirit blending unit, as the crude oil cracking process is of no value without it.”
To ensure transparency and accountability, PETROAN is demanding the creation of a special task force, comprising members of the Petroleum Industry Stakeholders Forum, to oversee the repairs and provide weekly progress updates to Nigerians.
Among other key demands by PETROAN include, “Timely completion of repairs before stock depletion, to prevent product scarcity and market monopolization.”
Others are, “Prompt payments to contractors to avoid project delays. Inclusion of critical infrastructure like the PMS blending unit to ensure full operational value upon restart.”
PETROAN cautioned that failure to deliver on schedule could worsen economic pressure on Nigerians already grappling with inflation, energy costs, and foreign exchange instability.
The group urged NNPC to not only meet expectations but also to prove that years of rehabilitation efforts will finally yield tangible results for the country’s ailing downstream sector.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has explained why it initiated a move to freeze the bank account of the Osun State government.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Governor of Osun State, Mr Ademola Adeleke, claimed that the anti-money laundering agency asked one of its bankers, First Bank, not to release funds to the state government.
According to the Governor, this was part of the strategies to frustrate his administration ahead of the August 15, 2026, governorship election in the state.
Reacting to the issue on Wednesday night, the EFCC, in a statement, said it has been investigating the state government since March 2026 over an alleged “fraudulent handling of Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) account to the tune of N11.0 billion.
The organisation noted that some officials of the state government, especially the Accountant General of the State, have had interview sessions with investigators of the EFCC.
“These ongoing investigations of the state government would not have warranted any placement of Post No Debit order on its account but for the precipitate and unwarranted movement of funds from the accounts to different suspicious accounts since August 2, 2026.
“The commission noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which such heavy funds are being moved,” parts of the statement said.
In the disclosure, the agency noted that its preventive mandate is a public-inclined framework of safeguarding public funds, assets and resources, stressing that it cannot “watch idly while a state government’s account is being pillaged.”
“While the commission is fully aware of the impending governorship election in Osun State, it has a responsibility to act in defence of the sanctity of the funds of the state. It will be uncharitable for the commission to allow an excuse of an upcoming election to fold its arms to perform its legally-assigned functions,” it pointed out.
The EFCC disclosed that it is “keeping watch over the finances of other states like Osun State. Many of these states are on the investigative radar of the commission to ensure accountability and probity. The commission has always pointed out that it is non-partisan and non-sectarian but always working in the overall interests of Nigerians. The Osun State government account was frozen to save public funds from being looted.”
The organisation urged the public “to ignore false narratives and deliberate demonisation of the works of the EFCC. The interests of all Nigerians are greater and will always be protected by the commission.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has launched a mobile application designed to monitor fuel consumption patterns in real time across retail outlets nationwide.
The NMDPRA, established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, is responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum operations. The deployment of the mobile application aligns with the authority’s broader efforts to leverage technology to improve regulatory compliance and strengthen accountability.
The pilot phase of the project began on August 1 in Abuja and its six Area Councils, the authority said in a statement published on X.
As part of the rollout, the Executive Director for Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure (DSSRI), Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, led a team alongside officials from the Abuja Regional Office to assess the readiness and operational performance of the digital platform at participating retail outlets.
According to the NMDPRA, the application captures inventory and compliance data in real time, enabling regulators to monitor fuel distribution more effectively while improving operational efficiency across the sector.
The authority said the platform would generate reliable, data-driven insights to support evidence-based decision-making, strengthen national energy security planning and enhance transparency in the downstream petroleum industry.
It added that the initiative is expected to provide significant value to government, investors, operators and other stakeholders by improving access to accurate fuel consumption and compliance data.
Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has undergone significant changes since the deregulation of the petrol market and the removal of fuel subsidies, with regulators placing greater emphasis on data-driven supervision to ensure product availability, prevent supply disruptions and discourage sharp regional disparities in distribution.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No doubt, moving money among African markets remains a slow, fragmented process that relies on multiple intermediaries and prolonged settlement cycles.
To solve this issue and drive the development of stablecoin-enabled payment services for businesses across the continent, Onafriq has joined forces with a leading stablecoin infrastructure provider, Privy.
The collaboration will enable Onafriq to create and manage embedded digital asset solutions for its partners and, in time, institutional clients where regulation allows. The initial phase focuses on cross-chain stablecoin transfers and treasury and settlement workflows, creating the foundation for future cross-border payment and liquidity solutions.
Integrating Privy’s secure infrastructure enables Onafriq to build the capabilities required to support a new generation of efficient digital payment services for banks, fintechs, and mobile money operators.
This partnership is a key component of Onafriq’s broader strategy to modernise pan-African payment infrastructure, enabling secure multi-modal wallets and more efficient movement of value across the continent.
The outcome will support a range of future institutional use cases, including stablecoin-enabled settlement, treasury management and liquidity services, as it reflects Onafriq’s commitment to driving Africa’s digital transformation agenda by investing in technologies that make financial services more efficient, connected and accessible.
It was gathered that Onafriq selected Privy for its enterprise-grade infrastructure to enable the seamless integration of digital asset wallet capabilities into its products, subject to regulatory approval, and deliver a simple user experience while abstracting the complexity of blockchain technology.
“At Onafriq, we keep investing in technology that makes payments faster and more accessible. Privy gives us a building block for faster settlement and better liquidity management. As demand for digital asset services grows, our goal is to ensure Africa’s payment ecosystem benefits securely and in line with regulatory frameworks,” the Group Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Onafriq,” Mr Luke Kyohere, said.
The chief executive of Privy, Mr Henri Stern, said, “Stablecoins will play an increasingly important role in the future of global payments, but real-world adoption depends on infrastructure that is secure, scalable and simple to implement. Working with Onafriq allows us to help build that foundation across Africa and beyond.”
