My Position On Maintenance Of Moribund Refineries Not A Criticism Against Buhari — Gov. Sule

Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has denied criticising former President Muhammadu Buhari for not making the nation’s refineries functional during his administration.

In a statement on Monday by his Chief Press Secretary, Ibrahim Addra, explained that he only spoke about the removal of fuel subsidy when he appeared on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, “Sunrise Daily,” on June 8.

He said, “In answering questions on the recent removal of oil subsidy, Governor Sule, who has over three decades of global experience in the oil and gas industry, spoke on the desirability of removal of the subsidy at this point in time as well as some systemic problems that have hindered the optimal functioning of the nation’s refineries.

“Governor Sule’s comments have since been adapted by many media platforms. We are, however, baffled by the misrepresentation of some parts of the interview as they relate to former President Muhammadu Buhari…”

“The comments of the governor have been inadvertently twisted to suggest that the governor was blaming the former President for the woes of the nation’s refineries. That’s far from the truth”, the statement reads in part

The statement further explained that the governor only referred in the interview to how the Federal Government had been approaching repairs of the three local refineries the wrong way, saying budget allocation should be focused on fixing one at a time instead of sharing on the three.

“Governor Sule’s response was: ‘We have been approaching the repairs the wrong way. A refinery has many components, and once a budget of say $2 billion is approved and the funds released, instead of using the entire money to fix one, the amount is shared.

“That’s why over the years we spent more on Turn Around Maintenance than what Dangote has spent in the construction of a new refinery, without appreciable results. Once it gets to the management of each refinery, you will see that the money can only repair a component or two while leaving the rest of the refinery in bad shape.’

“One then wonders how this statement translates to faulting (former) Mr. President whom the governor refers to as a father and will continue to do so for the rest of his life”