Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, Festus Osifo, has rejected claims that Nigeria’s state-owned refineries never operated, stressing that they worked but failed to deliver profit.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, September 23, Osifo said, “I’m an engineer of over 20 years standing, and I understand how mechanics work.
“So I know a system that is working, and I know a system that doesn’t work. I listened to a programme that said the refinery never worked. It’s not correct, the refinery worked.”
He clarified that inefficiency, not inactivity, was the core challenge.
“There is a difference between a piece of equipment working and a piece of equipment working efficiently. In engineering, these are two different things,” he explained.
According to Osifo, the refineries were eventually shut because they ran at a loss.
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“When you feed crude that costs 10 million dollars into the refinery and end up with products worth about 9.5 million dollars, it means you are running at a loss. That was exactly what happened, not that the refineries were not working,” he said.
The union leader added that “material balance” problems and a technology gap worsened the situation.
He explained that older refineries once supported newer ones, but government shortcuts that separated their operations created inefficiencies.
Osifo urged the government to hand majority control to private investors.
“What we have advised, and what we have advocated for in the last 20 years, is that the government should give private investors a 51 per cent stake in the refineries. Once they become the largest shareholders, they will be able to run them efficiently,” he said.
Nigeria’s four refineries have struggled for decades, but recent partial restarts in Port Harcourt and Warri have revived operations.
The Dangote Refinery, running at 85 per cent capacity, is also expected to reshape the refining landscape.