Nigeria’s long-standing refinery crisis reflects deep structural challenges, with years of poor maintenance, weak governance, and political interference continuing to undermine efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in fuel production.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News, business analyst Chika Mbonu said the country’s refineries have, over time, become examples of systemic failure despite billions of dollars spent on rehabilitation.
“These refineries have become symbols of poor maintenance, poor corporate governance… political interference,” he said.
Mbonu said that Nigeria’s refining challenges date back decades, with a persistent pattern of exporting crude oil while relying on imported refined products.
“Our story in the last 50 years has been Nigeria produces oil, we export it, we import refined fuel,” he said.
According to him, repeated attempts to fix the refineries have failed to deliver results, despite significant financial commitments.
“We spend billions… fixing refineries that never fix themselves,” he said.
He explained that mismanagement and lack of accountability within the system have played a major role in the continued underperformance of the facilities.
“This is a place where you have… very expensive maintenance that turn nothing around,” he said.
Mbonu added that beyond infrastructure, governance issues and operational inefficiencies remain the biggest obstacles to meaningful reform.
He stressed that without addressing these underlying problems, new initiatives may struggle to succeed.
“The real issue is… can this actually work?” he said.
Despite the challenges, he expressed hope that a properly structured, private sector-led approach could help reposition the sector.
“I’m happy that this private sector-led initiative… I hope that it works,” he added.
Mbonu concluded that Nigeria’s refinery crisis is less about infrastructure and more about systemic inefficiencies, warning that lasting reform will depend on addressing governance, accountability, and operational discipline in the sector.
By Ojo Triumph
