The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the reopening of the Warri Refinery as an unexpected New Year gift by the President Bola Tinubu administration to Nigerians.

The group said this in a statement signed by Mr Emeka Nwankpa, its Chairman, and Mr Dapo Okubanjo, Secretary, on Thursday in Abuja.

It said it was a pleasant surprise that the first phase of the rehabilitation of the 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery was completed without a fuss.

“Coming within a few weeks of the old 60,000 bpd Port Harcourt refinery going on stream in November, not many Nigerians expected that the 125000 barrels a day Warri Refinery would be restarted soon.

“Like many Nigerians, we were surprised to hear another positive development from the effort initiated by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who in 2021 took the first step towards the complete overhaul of all four government-owned refineries,” it said.

The group observed that the refineries had laid prostate for 16 years, with previous Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administrations spending millions of dollars on Turn Around Maintenance (TAM).

“We recall that on assuming office President Tinubu had vowed to not only complete what his predecessor started, but to also ensure that Nigeria became a net exporter of petroleum products.

“Only recently, some people even claimed in the media that Nigeria had wasted 3 billion dollars to overhaul refineries that had not produced a drop of petroleum products.

“While we acknowledge that the Warri refinery is not 100% complete, we remind Nigerians that not many people can remember the last time the plant produced AGO (diesel), Kerosene and naphtha which are now being produced by the refinery,” said TMSG.

It described the development as the dawn of a new year, urging Nigerians to see it as a new year gift. This set the tone for President Tinubu's greater gifts to Nigerians.

“We, hereby, urge the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), to ensure accelerated repair works on the Kaduna Refinery and the 150,000 bpd refinery in Port Harcourt to bolster Nigeria’s status as Africa’s leading refiner of petroleum products.

“TMSG is convinced that the Bola Tinubu administration will take further steps to ensure that the refineries were in safe hands this time to fully actualise the vision of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” the statement added.