The Federal Executive Council has approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery which is said to commence immediately.
Briefing State House Correspondents on Wednesday after the FEC meeting in Abuja, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the rehabilitation will be carried out in three phases. The first phase will be completed in 18 months which takes the refinery to a production of 90 percent of its capacity, the second phase will be completed in 24months, while the final phase will be completed in 44months.
The contractor approved by council is an Italian E and EPC company who won the bid to handle the rehabilitation project. Sylva assured that the maintenance which is a recurring challenge for the nation’s refineries was elaborately discussed in council, adding that a professional will be employed to manage the refinery after the rehabilitation.
On his part, Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, presented a memo approved by the council to the tune of ₦3.70billion for the supply of various equipment to strengthen the Nigeria Centre for disease control (NCDC) across the federation, to respond effectively not only to COVID-19 issues but to other diagnostic issues.