‘I Can Make Four Refineries In Nigeria Work’ – Sowore

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has promised to restore Nigeria’s four government-owned refineries to full operation if elected President in the 2027 general election.

Naija News reports that Sowore stated this on Tuesday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Prime Time, where he outlined his position on the country’s petroleum industry and fuel subsidy.

The AAC candidate blamed the prolonged failure of the refineries on corruption, alleging that successive administrations had mismanaged funds meant to maintain and rehabilitate the facilities.

Sowore argued that refining crude oil locally would reduce the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products, lower costs, and create employment opportunities for Nigerians.

He stated, “There are four refineries in Nigeria, and I can make them work. If we are refining locally, even if we save N10 per gallon, it is a huge amount considering that we consume over 60 million litres daily.

“The fuel importation we are doing is from countries that are refining locally. We have refineries built by Nigerians in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that we are importing from.

“I think there’s somewhere in the Niger Republic where we are importing from. Why can’t we make our own refineries work?”

The AAC candidate also said he would not remove petrol subsidy if elected, arguing that government should prioritise measures that protect poor Nigerians while tackling corruption in the petroleum sector.

He said subsidy could be sustained alongside efforts to prevent corruption and ensure that the benefits reached ordinary citizens.

Sowore added, “The person who can sustain the subsidy, support the poor, and still fight corruption is who you go with, not someone who was part of those looting the subsidy funds and benefited from sabotaging the masses.”