Tinubu gave the assurance yesterday in Abuja during a meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), where he acknowledged concerns over the performance of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries.

He said the facilities would undergo what he described as a firm reset and structural reworking of their economics to ensure they deliver value to Nigerians.

“The refineries you mentioned are going to come back to work. We are just building a very firm reset and structural reworking of the economics of it,” the president said.

He added: “Ordinary flame and smoke of a refinery doesn’t mean that it is working until it is profitable and yields the value for which it was built.”

Tinubu said he had accepted responsibility for the assets and liabilities inherited from previous administrations and would focus on making the facilities productive.

“I’m not a man who will go looking back at everything because I have accepted the assets and liabilities of my predecessors. No matter what has happened in the years past, it is my responsibility now as the president to fix it, make it work for the largest common value of our population,” he said.

The assurance comes as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) moves to restructure the refineries.

In May, NNPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co., Ltd. for the rehabilitation, restart and expansion of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries under a technical equity partnership model.

The latest initiative follows years of government spending on refinery rehabilitation without sustained production.

Under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, about $2.9 billion was approved for the rehabilitation of the facilities, but they barely produced refined products before being shut down again.

The development has continued to raise questions about their economic viability.

Earlier this week, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) said the government-owned refineries were shut because they were losing money rather than because they could not function.

PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, said the rehabilitation of the three facilities was among the most significant interventions in recent years, but criticised years of government announcements and approvals that were not matched by corresponding work on the ground.