The President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo, says the old Port Harcourt refinery has been rehabilitated to about 90 per cent and can be brought back into operation within one week, if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) so decides.
Osifo disclosed this on Tuesday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme.
According to him, the refinery is technically ready for operation, but profitability considerations remain a major factor influencing NNPCL’s decision on when to restart the facility.
“As of today, you can start the old Port Harcourt refinery, and it will function. You can put it on today, and it will function. However, NNPCL as a company is there to make a profit. So, if they want to start it today, within the next one week, they can bring it back to life,” Osifo said.
READ ALSO: Restructure, Buy Port Harcourt Refinery, Otedola Tells DAPPMAN Amid Brawl With Dangote
He explained that although extensive rehabilitation work has been carried out, operational losses could arise due to the cost of crude oil relative to the value of refined products.
“It has been rehabilitated up to about 90 per cent. But the challenge is that if you feed crude oil worth, say, five million dollars into the old Port Harcourt refinery, what you are likely to get at the other end when you sell the petroleum products may be about 4.5 million dollars. So, you put in five million dollars as input and get 4.5 million dollars as output.”
Osifo, however, noted that the investment in the refinery was not wasted, stressing that major components of the facility had been replaced during the rehabilitation exercise.
“The money that was thrown into the Port Harcourt refinery is not a loss. If you look at the old Port Harcourt refinery, almost all the compressors were changed, the control rooms were changed, and the panels were all changed. The contractors did not take them away,” he said.
Old Port Harcourt Refinery
He added that the value of the refinery has significantly improved compared to its condition before rehabilitation.
“In fact, if you value the refinery today, it will be much more valuable than the state it was in before the rehabilitation,” Osifo said.
The Senate has held an emergency plenary session amid backlash over amendments to the Electoral Act, particularly provisions relating to the electronic transmission of election results.
Here were some of the key developments from the session, which started around 12:30 pm on Tuesday.
13: 34 pm: The Senate President has expanded the membership of the Senate Conference Committee to 12 and directed members to commence sittings immediately, as legislative work on the bill enters its final stage.
Addressing the committee, the Senate President urged members to expedite their deliberations, noting that the outcome would be transmitted promptly to the Presidency for assent within February.
He expressed optimism that President Bola Tinubu, in the next week, would sign the bill into law as an act of Parliament.
The number of lawmakers from the Senate was increased to 12 from a previous 9 to align with that of the House of Representatives. The total number of lawmakers from both chambers now stands at 24.
1:14 pm: The Senate President, Akpabio, continues with the votes and proceedings
1:10 pm: Abaribe withdraws his call for individual votes
1:02 pm: Sen. Abaribe calls for a vote on the matter, which is met with immediate uproar among lawmakers.
Senate President Akpabio
12:55 pm: The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has aligned with a motion sponsored by Senator Tahir Mungono calling for the electronic transmission of election results by presiding officers at polling units.
Under the proposal, electronic transmission would serve as the primary method of uploading results. However, in the event of technical challenges such as network failures, the motion provides for a fallback option allowing the manual transmission of results using Form EC8A, duly signed and stamped by the presiding officer.
The proposal, however, sparked concerns among lawmakers, particularly over the reliance on Form EC8A as the primary source of election results, where disputes arise.
The differing views led to sharp divisions on the floor of the Senate, prompting Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe to call for an individual vote on the matter to clearly determine the position of each lawmaker.
12:50 p.m.: The Senate now takes the motion by Senator Tahir Munguno that the decision on Clause 60 (3) be rescinded and recommitted to the committee of the whole.
Background
The emergency sitting was announced in a notice issued on Sunday by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, following the directive of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
“I am directed by His Excellency, the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, GCON, to inform all Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that an Emergency Sitting of the Senate has been scheduled to hold as follows: Date: Tuesday, 10th February, 2026. Time: 12:00 noon. Venue: Senate Chamber,” the notice read.
Although no official reason was given for the emergency sitting, the development comes amid widespread public debate and protests following the Senate’s passage of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 through a third reading last week.
READ ALSO: Occupy National Assembly Protest Begins In Abuja Over E-Transmission Of Election Results
The controversy centres on Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which relates to the electronic transmission of election results.
The Senate declined to approve a proposed amendment that would have made real-time electronic transmission of results mandatory, instead retaining the existing provision in the 2022 Electoral Act.
The retained clause states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
The rejected amendment would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit polling unit results to the IREV portal in real time after the relevant result forms had been duly signed and stamped.
The Senate also rejected proposals seeking to introduce a 10-year ban on vote-buyers, opting instead to retain existing penalties of fines and jail terms.
Protest
Public discontent over the Senate’s decision spilled onto the streets on Monday, as members of civil society groups and opposition political parties converged on the entrance of the National Assembly in Abuja under the banner of the “Occupy National Assembly” protest.
The demonstration, which was directed against the Senate’s position on electronic transmission of results, attracted a heavy security presence, with personnel deployed from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The entrance to the National Assembly was barricaded by security operatives, but some of the protesters told Channels Television that they did not intend to force entry into the National Assembly, noting that the demonstration was planned to take place solely at the gate.
The protesters marched from the Federal Secretariat towards the National Assembly complex.
Peter Obi at the Occupy National Assembly protest in Abuja
Meanwhile, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, who is now a member of the ADC, also joined the protest.
Obi said the Senate must act to prevent a recurrence of the technical failures reported by INEC during the 2023 general elections.
According to him, lawmakers should make real-time electronic transmission of election results mandatory to strengthen the credibility of the electoral process.
Clarification
In response to the backlash, Senate President Godswill Akpabio clarified that the Senate did not reject electronic transmission of election results but merely retained the provision as contained in the 2022 Electoral Act.
Speaking at a book launch over the weekend, Akpabio explained that the phrase “real time” was removed to avoid potential legal complications arising from network failures.
“All we said during the discussion was that we should remove the word ‘real-time’ because if you say real-time, then there is a network or grid failure, and the network is not working. When you go to court, somebody will say it ought to have been real-time. That was all we said,” he said.
A file photo of the Senate President Godswill Akpabio
Akpabio added that the decision was intended to give INEC the flexibility to determine the most appropriate method of transmitting results, taking into account technological and security challenges.
‘Allow INEC decide’
Former Senate President David Mark responded to Akpabio in on the issue, stating that the National Assembly should allow INEC to decide whether or not to transmit election results electronically.
Former Senate President, Senator David Mark (file)
Despite the criticism, some senators have defended the bill, insisting that it enjoyed overwhelming support in the Red Chamber.
“Over 85 per cent of senators agreed to electronic transmission. It was common ground. Even the ad hoc committee of the Senate agreed to it,” the Senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh, told Channels Television.
Umeh said the only change agreed during the Senate’s executive session was the removal of the phrase “in real time”, attributing the decision to concerns about network coverage in some parts of the country.
“It was only ‘real time’ that was expunged because of network issues. Transmission itself was never in dispute,” he said.
According to him, confusion arose during plenary when a motion was reportedly introduced to replace the word “transmission” with “transfer” without debate.
“There was no debate on it. If debate had been allowed, it would have taken us back to the executive session where the issue had already been exhaustively discussed and resolved,” Umeh added.
You can watch the Senate proceedings today on all our platforms.
The Imo State Police Command has arrested a suspected sub-commander of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN), Chinonso Ugochukwu, over the murder of one Chima Jeremiah and several others.
Ugochukwu, popularly known as Bob Adam, aged 31 years old, and four other suspects are allegedly linked to the death of the cleric and a female victim, Ugochi Nwabueze, in Orsu Obodo inthe Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State.
The Commissioner of Police in Imo, Audu Bosso, disclosed this during a press conference at the Police Command Headquarters in Owerri on Tuesday, while briefing journalists on the Command’s major operational breakthroughs recorded in the last week.
Bosso said investigations revealed that the suspects are linked to a string of violent crimes, including kidnapping, terrorism, and armed robbery, allegedly carried out under the guise of the proscribed IPOB/ESN group. He added that information provided by the suspects led to the discovery and exhumation of corpses buried in shallow graves, including the alleged remains of the pastor and a female victim.
The commissioner disclosed that a coordinated intelligence-led operation is currently underway to rescue the kidnapped victims.
Another suspect, Chinaemerem Ogamba of Ubaheze Omoma in Oru-East LGA of Imo State, confessed to being a member of the proscribed IPOB/ESN terrorist groups.
Bosso said the Command arrested 15 criminal suspects implicated in various offences, including kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, IPOB/ESN-linked terrorism, child trafficking, murder, and stealing.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has seized more than 10 million doses of counterfeit malaria medications and cosmetic products valued at approximately ₦3 billion from the Trade Fair Market in Lagos.
NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Dr. Martins Iluyomade, revealed the operation during a briefing at the agency’s Apapa office on Monday, noting that the raid followed credible intelligence received on February 3.
According to Iluyomade, the counterfeit items included anti-malarial drugs, cerebral malaria injections, antibiotics, postinor, and anagin products—some of which have been banned in Nigeria for nearly 15 years. The items were stored in a three-story building disguised as a spare parts warehouse.
READ ALSO: NAFDAC Alerts Nigerians On Recall Of Mivacron, Nimbex Injections
Eight truckloads of the fake drugs and cosmetics were removed during the operation, which also resulted in the arrest of four individuals. Investigations are ongoing, but the director described the raid as one of NAFDAC’s most significant recent achievements.
He warned that had these products reached the market, they could have endangered the lives of up to three million Nigerians.
Iluyomade stressed that under the leadership of Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC remains committed to eliminating counterfeit and substandard products nationwide.
Senator representing Bauchi Central at the National Assembly, Abdul Ningi, on Monday said the Senate could make the adoption of the votes and proceedings on the electronic transmission of election results public amid ongoing controversy over the issue.
Ningi stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today ahead of the upper chamber’s emergency plenary session scheduled for Tuesday, following ongoing debates over the e-transmission of election results after the Electoral Act amendment bill passed the third reading at the Senate.
Asked during the interview whether it was possible for the voting process at the Senate to be made public so that Nigerians could know which senator voted for or against the real-time transmission of election results, Ningi said, “I think it’s possible. It depends on the presiding officer because the law provides that.
“You can stand up and say, ‘I, Ningi, I accept e-transmission in real time.’ I sit down. It’s recorded every other senator, and that is the only way we need to move forward.”
“One thing that is very important is that the votes and proceedings have not been captured. So tomorrow, we need to look at what the votes and proceedings captured are. Is it a transfer?
“There was a motion for amendment by Manguno, and then the question was put. Who asked the question? Why was the question raised?
“Was it discussed? It is important that when you bring a motion on something that you have no idea of, one of the reasons why maybe people are not so happy is that the Senate President should have asked us as a committee, ‘Please, educate us on this issue that this Moguna has raised,” the Bauchi lawmaker added.
Not ‘Party Affair’
Ningi stated that the issue was not about one political party or the other.
“I’m here, and I’m telling you with all sense of responsibility that this is not a party thing. It has never been seen as a party thing up to the moment we went into the committee of the whole.
“If tomorrow the Senate President decides to say, ‘Is it transfer or transmission, and the gavel was sealed on transfer. They (the majority) have their way,” he said.
The federal lawmaker also expressed displeasure over what he described as the condemnation of the Senate “in its entirety” over the matter.
“I feel so sad and outraged myself when I see the condemnation across this country condemning the Senate in its entirety. And that’s why for us, we need to tell the story.
“And I can tell you 98 per cent of the senators are in agreement with the submission made by the House. I don’t know how they are trying to make it a party affair. I don’t think so.
“As I told you, APC governors have presented their submission, PDP…, and they are all saying e-transmission,” Ningi stated on the programme.
Protest
The upper legislative chamber has come under fire since February 4, 2026, when it passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026 through the third reading, disapproving the proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
The rejected provision would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time, after the prescribed Form EC&A had been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by candidates.
The Senate, instead, adopted the existing provision of the Electoral Act, which states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had, at a book launch at the weekend, explained that electronic transmission of results remains permissible, but the phrase “real time” was removed from the provision.
“All we said during the discussion was that we should remove the word ‘real-time’ because if you say real-time, then there is a network or grid failure, and the network is not working, when you go to court, somebody will say it ought to have been real-time. That was all we said,” he stated.
One of the protesters with a placard
But on Monday, protesters, including the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, converged on the entrance of the National Assembly in Abuja for the “Occupy National Assembly” protest.
Former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of setting Nigeria on fire amid the controversy surrounding the electronic transmission of election results.
READ ALSO: It’s Possible For Senate To Vote Publicly On Real-Time E-Transmission Of Election Results — Ningi
There has been outrage after the Senate last week passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026 through the third reading.
In passing the bill, the upper chamber did not approve the proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
But Adebayo, a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, said, “The Senate President, receiving text messages from saboteurs, decided to set the country on fire over a minimum requirement that the elections should be seen by the public to be transparent.”
READ ALSO: Senate Fixes Emergency Plenary Amid Debates About E-Transmission Of Results
Adebayo also raised concerns like campaign finance, excessive spending, and buying of votes, among others, that he urged the lawmakers to address.
He asked the senators to remedy the situation by being true representatives of the people.
“The way to salvage the situation is for Godswill Akpabio to remember his humble beginnings, to know that he is a nobody in Nigeria.
“He (Akpabio) is only a somebody today because of the will of the people of Akwa Ibom who made him governor and also sent him to the National Assembly.
“He is not here to come and lecture us. He is not wiser than the next person. Where he is supposed to show leadership, he wants to make himself a mercenary to undermine democracy. The solution is for him to go back and repent,” the SDP chieftain added.
The Senate will hold an emergency plenary session on Tuesday, February 10, 2026.
In a notice sent by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, the lawmakers were directed to convene at the National Assembly complex at noon on the instruction of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
