Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has announced that his organization plans to sue the foreign contractors responsible for repairing Nigeria’s oil refineries, citing ongoing delays. Speaking on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics, Falana criticized both the contractors and the state-run NNPC Limited (NNPCL) for their handling of the issue.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is grappling with severe energy challenges, as all its state-owned refineries are currently non-operational. The nation relies heavily on imported refined petroleum products, with the NNPCL serving as the primary importer.

The NNPCL recently acknowledged a crisis in the energy sector and expressed concerns about its ability to maintain a steady supply of petroleum products. However, Falana dismissed the NNPCL’s concerns and called for transparency, urging the government to be honest if it plans to raise petrol prices. He appealed to Nigerians, particularly the media and civil society organizations, to uncover what he described as fraud within the petroleum sector, suggesting that there are deeper issues at play.

Contracts for the repair of Nigeria’s refineries were awarded under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, with $1.5 billion allocated for the Port Harcourt refineries and $1.4 billion for the Warri and Kaduna refineries. Despite these investments, the restart dates for refinery operations have been repeatedly delayed over the past year.

Falana revealed that his organization had decided to hire engineers to assess the progress of the repairs at the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries. He expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the foreign contractors and indicated his readiness to take legal action if there are further delays. “We cannot afford a situation where the foreign contractors mess up the country. So we want to sue those contractors if there is another postponement of the commencement date in the refining of crude oil in those refineries,” he stated.

Falana also questioned the NNPCL’s involvement in the refinery repairs, suggesting that the organization’s role in the repeated postponements is questionable. “It is not the business of the NNPCL except there is more to it than what we are seeing. It’s not its job to fix the refineries, so why is the NNPCL changing the date?” he asked.