Nigeria’s House of Representatives has ordered a multi-committee inquiry into roughly $18bn spent on rehabilitating the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, which remain largely non-functional, The Punch has reported. The amount covers combined rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrade contracts (not one-time expenditure).

Lawmakers adopted a motion on October 9 directing the Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream, Downstream and Midstream), Gas Resources and Public Assets to trace funds appropriated and disbursed between 2010 and 2024, assess the refineries’ current state, and report back within four weeks.

The refineries consist of two in Port Harcourt, one in Warri and one in Kaduna. They are owned by the government and managed by state-owned oil and gas company NNPC Limited. Years of turnaround projects have failed to restore output, leaving Nigeria dependent on imported petroleum products.

The move follows public doubts from industrialist Aliko Dangote and former President Olusegun Obasanjo about whether the ageing plants can return to viable operation. NNPC Limited CEO Bayo Ojulari has also indicated that the possible sale of the assets has not been ruled out, reflecting the depth of the impasse.

Lawmakers said the probe would establish how rehabilitation funds were allocated and spent, identify any infractions, and inform decisions on divestment or stricter performance benchmarks. With petrol subsidies removed and inflation pressures intensifying, further delays in restoring domestic refining could prolong high pump prices and foreign-exchange strain from fuel imports.

Despite years of state-funded rehabilitation, Nigeria continues to rely heavily on fuel imports, which reached an estimated $23bn in 2024, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) 2023 Audit urged the government to publish a comprehensive breakdown of refinery capital expenditures (CAPEX) to improve accountability and curb cost inflation in future projects.

Lawmakers say a new probe could help shape a more transparent divestment or concession strategy consistent with NNPC Limited’s ongoing transition under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which seeks to reposition the company on commercial principles and open the downstream sector to greater private participation.

The House directed that the inquiry include a full audit trail, engineering assessments and recommendations to protect future investments in downstream infrastructure. Its mandate also covers a review of whether past decisions, such as the reversal of a 2007 privatisation of the plants and a return to state-funded repairs, worsened operational outcomes.