The Downstream Committee of the Nigerian Senate has stated that the three government-owned refineries in the country will begin full operations before January 2025.
According to the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Jide Ipinsagba, who is representing Ondo North Senatorial District, the retrofitting of the Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt refineries was already at the completion stage.
Ipinsagba, who also states that the Dangote refinery in Lagos State will soon begin the refining of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, known as petrol, expressed the satisfaction of the committee during the on-the-spot assessment as an oversight function for the refineries.
He maintained that the refined petroleum products would be exported after internal consumption had been met.
“Effort is on top gear to ensure that all the refineries are functioning before the end of this year. We have done oversight of all the refineries, and we have good promises from them based on what we saw there.
“Port Harcourt refinery today has about 90 to 95 percent optimisation in terms of retrofitting. Warri is almost about 80 percent, and Kaduna is almost about 70 percent.
“Dangote refinery is ready to operate any moment from now on. With all this, internal consumption of fuel will not be a problem, and we will have the opportunity to also export our refined oil.”
Warri, Port Harcourt, Kaduna refineries will begin operations by December – Senator Ipinsagba
Some of the 367 passengers and crew spent more than four months in captivity, including as human shields against Western attacks on the Iraqi dictator’s troops during the first Gulf War.
94 of them have filed a civil claim at the High Court in London, accusing Britain’s government and BA of “deliberately endangering” civilians, said McCue Jury & Partners.
“All of the claimants suffered severe physical and psychiatric harm during their ordeal, the consequences of which are still felt today,” the law firm added.
The action claims that the UK government and the airline “knew the invasion had started” but allowed the flight to land anyway.
They did so because the flight was used to “insert a covert special ops team into occupied Kuwait,” the firm added.
“We were not treated as citizens but as expendable pawns for commercial and political gain,” said Barry Manners, who was on the flight and is taking part in the claim.
“A victory over years of cover-up and bare-faced denial will help restore trust in our political and judicial process,” he added.
British government files released in November 2021 revealed that the UK ambassador to Kuwait informed London about reports of an Iraqi incursion before the flight landed but the message was not passed on to BA.
There have also been claims, denied by the government, that London knowingly put passengers at risk by using the flight to deploy undercover operatives and delayed take-off to allow them to board.
The UK government refused to comment on ongoing legal matters.
British Airways has always denied accusations of negligence, conspiracy and a cover-up.
The airline did not respond to a request for comment from AFP but said last year that the records released in 2021 “confirmed British Airways was not warned about the invasion.”
McCue Jury and Partners had announced in September its intention to file the suit, saying then that the hostages “may claim an estimated average of £170,000 ($213,000) each in damages.”
In 2003, a French court ordered BA to pay 1.67m euros to the flight’s French hostages, saying it had “seriously failed in its obligations” to them by landing the plane.
AFP
