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BUSINESS & ECONOMY Uduaghan advises FG on
illegal refineries
Published October 11, 2018
Former Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel
Uduaghan
Theophilus Onojeghen , Warri
A former governor of Delta State and
the candidate of the All Progressives
Congress for Delta South Senatorial
District in the 2019 general elections, Dr
Emmanuel Uduaghan , has called on the
Federal Government to convert the
ingenuity of illegal refinery operators in
the Niger Delta region into
technological breakthrough for the
country .
Uduaghan, who was one of those who
brokered a peace deal between the
Federal Government and militants in
the region in 2009, said the illegal
refineries should be upgraded and
licensed by the government to
complement the four conventional
refineries in the country .
The former governor, in a Facebook
post on Wednesday on the reasons why
he aspired to represent Delta South at
the Senate , gave an assurance that
when elected , he would pursue laws
that would legalise the illegal refineries
and their operators.
He observed that the continued
destruction of the local refineries by
security agencies , which in turn pollute
the already degraded environment , was
not the solution to the current menace .
He stated, “ About 6 , 000 illegal refineries
operational in the country were
reportedly destroyed by the Joint
Military Task Force in 2015. Some of
these ‘refineries ’ were actually rickety
‘science projects ’ being over- glorified
by calling them oil refineries.
“ Be that as it may , among existing
thousands of illegal refineries, there is
(a) likelihood that there will be a good
number of well set up refineries among
them . The illegal refinery industry has
been around for years now , and has
grown a little .
“ So can a country that is trying hard to
manage its four legal refineries afford
to destroy ‘illegal refineries?”
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