Tompolo Hails Azikel Refinery, Calls Eruani Leader of Niger Delta’s New Industrialisation

Frontline Niger Delta leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, has commended the industrial development of Azikel Refinery, describing its President, Dr. Eruani Azibapu, CFR, as a leader of the new industrialisation drive in the Niger Delta, South-South and Nigeria.

Tompolo made the remarks after an extensive tour of the Azikel Refinery facilities in Bayelsa State, where he expressed admiration for the scale, vision and progress of the project.
Visibly impressed by the facilities, Tompolo declared that Dr. Eruani had demonstrated that the Niger Delta could move beyond being predominantly a producer of crude oil to becoming a major hub for the processing, refining and transformation of natural resources into higher-value products.

Azikel Refinery is a 25,000-barrel-per-day facility backed by an investment of about $1 billion. It is described as the second-largest privately owned refinery in Nigeria and is designed to process condensate and crude oil into products including petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel, heavy fuel oil and LPG.

Tompolo described the refinery as a major indigenous industrial development emerging from Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta, noting that projects of such magnitude could significantly contribute to employment creation, wealth generation and economic development.

He said the emergence of Azikel Refinery represented a new narrative for the Niger Delta—one driven by industrialisation, indigenous participation, value addition and the creation of sustainable economic opportunities.

According to him, Dr. Eruani's determination and entrepreneurial vision have demonstrated the potential of indigenous investments to stimulate wider industrial growth across Bayelsa State, the South-South region and Nigeria.

“I am proud of this industrial development that Dr. Eruani Azibapu, CFR, has ignited here in Bayelsa, the Niger Delta, the South-South States and Nigeria. This is the kind of development that creates employment, generates wealth and adds value to our crude oil resources,” Tompolo said.

The visit further underscored the growing importance of Azikel Refinery as an indigenous industrial project aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity while promoting economic opportunities within the Niger Delta.

Tompolo’s commendation highlights the increasing recognition of private-sector investments as critical to transforming the region’s vast natural resources into sustainable industrial and economic value.