Posted by By OLA AGBAJE on
The Action Congress (AC) has said the resuscitation of the nation's four old refineries and the building of private ones can only be possible when peace fully returns to the Niger Delta region.
The Action Congress (AC) has said the resuscitation of the nation's four old refineries and the building of private ones can only be possible when peace fully returns to the Niger Delta region.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also said the recent abduction of the 75-year-old father of the Bayelsa State deputy governor has shown the futility of signing so-called peace pacts with criminal groups posing as militants.
'We hate to say we told you so, but the unfortunate abduction of Pa Simeon Peremobowei within 72 hours after the signing of a peace pact between supposed militants and the Federal Government confirmed our aversion to a piecemeal approach to the Niger Delta crisis,'' it said.
On the clamour for the restoration of the nation's four refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna to full functionality to make refined products locally available, AC said embarking on the repairs without first dealing with the crisis would amount to putting the cart before the horse.
'Yes, the refineries can be repaired and restored, but how long will this last? The supply of crude oil to the refineries will be hampered by the activities of the militants, who have shown they can damage any pipeline of their choice.
'Even if crude oil supply is not cut off, getting the refined products to their destinations will be an uphill task, for the same reason that the distribution pipelines are subject to militant attacks.
'Moving the products by trucks, an out-dated means of ferrying petroleum products due to the inherent dangers and cost inefficiency, will also not work because the trucks are quite vulnerable,'' AC said.
On private refineries, the party said the delay by those who have been issued licences to build such refineries is due largely in part to the ceaseless attacks on oil facilities by militants.
'No one will put money in a refinery without being sure of the safety of the crude getting to the refinery or the refined products getting out safely and cost effectively.
'We therefore re-state that the solution to the problems of non-availability of locally refined products and the over-dependence on imported products for domestic consumption, as well as insecurity and violence in the region, lies in finding a comprehensive solution to the Niger Delta crisis,'' AC added.