Why we’re building 200,000bpd refinery — BUA

Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu has said the group is proposing the 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in Akwa Ibom to help Nigeria cut the huge cost of lifting crude oil, refining and importing the products.

He said this when he received the French Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, Franck Riester, at the BUA Group headquarters in Lagos on Wednesday.

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Rabiu, who is partnering Axens, a French company on the project, noted that the decision to site the refinery in Akwa Ibom in the South was strategic due to huge availability of raw materials and its proximity to export petroleum products to regional countries.

During the visit, the French foreign trade minister handed over a personal invitation from President Macron to Abdul Samad Rabiu to attend the Choose France Summit in June in Paris representing business leaders from Nigeria and Africa.

The French president, through the minister, commended the BUA Group chairman for his commitment to developing lasting relationships between French and Nigerian businesses.

“I am very pleased to see how committed Abdul Samad Rabiu is for the refinery and in the space of philanthropy,” Macron said.

The French minister also witnessed the signing of a progress acknowledgement statement between BUA Group and Axens for the refinery. It was also announced that Alhaji Rabiu had been appointed Chairman of the France Nigeria Investment Club.

President of Axens, Jean Sentenac, restated the commitment of Axens to delivering the BUA Refinery project on time and with the highest standards.

…Donates N10m drugs in SokotoMeanwhile

BUA Cement has donated N10 million drugs and other non-consumable medical items to Mobile Police Clinics, others in Sokoto state.

The centres include the Mobile Police Clinic, Arkilla, Kalambaina, Sabon garin Gidan Belu, Wajeke, Sabon Garin Alu and  Bakin Kusu’s clinics all in Wamakko local government area of the state.

The Assistant Director, Administration and Corporate Services of BUA Cement, Sada Suleiman, said the gesture was part of their corporate social responsibility.

Presenting the items on behalf of the company at Arkilla clinic on Thursday, the Director, Marketing Services, Abdulganiyu Yusuf, appealed to the beneficiaries to ensure judicial use of the items.

Receiving the items, the Executive Secretary, Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Adamu Abdullahi Romo, warned the clinics against selling the drugs to patients.