The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Bayo Ojulari, has described the shutdown of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries as a necessary step to end what he called decades of self-deception in the country’s downstream oil sector. Ojulari said the internal review conducted by NNPC revealed that refinery operations had become a ritual rather than a business. This transition weakened preventive maintenance culture, increased reliance on turnaround maintenance cycles that proved more commercially attractive to external parties, and contributed to the gradual erosion of in-house operational capacity within NNPC. “We had to admit that this system was not working.”He added that the shutdown allows NNPC to confront reality without the distraction of ongoing losses. The NNPC boss also credited the Dangote Refinery with creating the space for reform.

Source: Nigerian Tribune February 08, 2026 09:32 UTC