Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has pledged to get Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries fully operational if he wins the 2027 presidential election.
Sowore made the promise on Tuesday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Prime Time, where he spoke on Nigeria’s petroleum sector and the fuel subsidy debate.
He attributed the refineries’ prolonged non-performance to corruption, accusing past administrations of mismanaging funds meant for their maintenance and rehabilitation. According to him, local refining would cut Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products, bring down costs, and generate jobs for Nigerians.
“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,” he said.
“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?”
On subsidy, Sowore said he would not scrap it if elected, insisting that government policy should shield poor Nigerians while simultaneously cracking down on corruption in the sector.
He argued that subsidy payments could continue alongside stronger anti-corruption measures to ensure the benefits reach ordinary citizens rather than being diverted.
“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,” he added.
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