The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has confirmed that the Port Harcourt Refinery is back in operation.

Onanuga, in a post shared via his X account early on Thursday, said he and some others visited the refine on Wednesday to get first-hand information on its operations following reports that the facility is not back in production as its management announced to Nigerians.

However, the presidential media aide said after the visit, he can fully confirm that the Port Harcourt Refinery is up and running, urging Nigerians to ignore the false information making rounds about the facility.

Onanuga confirmed that he and others in the delegation were given a guided tour of the Port Harcourt Refinery by Managing Director Ibrahim Onoja, and they were satisfied with what they saw.

According to him, though the refinery is not working at 100% capacity, it is functioning at 70% installed capacity, with plans to ramp up production soon.

“I was part of a fact-finding team that visited the 60,000 barrels daily Port Harcourt Refining Complex on Wednesday. I will now share our findings. Our mission was to verify the rumours circulating about the refinery’s state, and I am pleased to report that we were satisfied with what we saw.

“Our team, guided by the refinery’s Managing Director Ibrahim Onoja, toured the entire complex, from the computerised control room to the loading bay and every section in between. We asked pointed questions and received satisfactory answers, dispelling our doubts and misconceptions.