MDs Of 3 Nigeria’s Refineries Sacked For Being Part Of Her Problems

By Olusegun Ajileye

The managing directors of the three refineries under the purview of NNPCL have been fired by the new management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

They said the shake-up was a performance-based reshuffle, nothing that those previously in charge were going in circles and some of them had become part of the problem, rather than the solution.

The refineries include the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company.

Some other senior officials of the national oil firm were also asked to leave, among them is Bala Wunti, a former chief of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, a subsidiary of NNPCL.

The new management also asked many officials with one year to their various retirement dates to leave.

One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity the President did this because of their performance, because NNPCL needed to do things differently.

Another official said, the NNPCL is a limited liability company and is not governed by civil service rules and there is always a need to get new brains that can deliver in new directions.

Speaking on the latest shakeup that swept the managers of the three refineries under NNPCL management, a source at the company, said, the three MDs have been asked to leave.

However, it was gathered that the continued poor performance of the refineries contributed to the exit of the managing directors.

Industry operators and experts questioned the operational integrity of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, particularly regarding transparency, efficiency, and overall management of Nigeria’s refineries under its purview.

This was after the revelation that the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company has remained shut since January 25, 2025, due to

safety issues in its Crude Distillation Unit Main Heater.