Group Speaks on Operation of Port Harcourt Refinery, New Dangote Petrol Price
- Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye, president of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, shared his thoughts on the elimination of subsidies in Nigeria
- He said that Nigerians have been duped by the government into thinking that the Port Harcourt refinery will shortly begin operations
- He claimed that there is a great deal of corruption in Nigeria's petroleum industry as a result of the subsidy issue
Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
The President of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye, has given his two cents on subsidy removal in Nigeria.
Source: UGC
He made this known in an interview with journalists on the country’s current business environment and the need to achieve the complete removal of petrol subsidies, This Day reported.
Okoye said that the government has been tricking Nigerians into believing that the Port Harcourt refinery will soon start working, and “we have all taken that as already done.”
Speaking on price fixing, he said:
“I do not think that the government has made it clear that it will be dictating the price because we know that it has deregularised the price of fuel. So it does not have the right again to say that it will be dictating the pump price of petrol to Nigerians. If there is any reason for it to start interfering again on the price of fuel, that means that the downstream market of the oil and gas sector has not been deregulated.”
On subsidy
He said the issue of subsidy has been creating a lot of corruption in the petroleum business in Nigeria. He, however, advocated for the total removal of subsidies to allow individuals to come and play in the field, just the way Dangote has done.
“The government has a lot of other areas it needs to subsidise. I mean, I was very excited when I got the information about the government subsidising electricity in government hospitals and schools. But the issue of subsidising fuel has been creating a lot of corruption, which we all know.
The NECA president noted that the ideal course of action would be to fully eliminate petrol subsidies and perhaps provide subsidies for other areas of the economy, making the subsidies extremely transparent and naturally acceptable to the general public.
Dangote petrol prices emerge
Legit.ng earlier reported that on Sunday, September 15, 2024, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) began removing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as gasoline, from the Dangote Refinery.
The Lekki refinery in Lagos is home to at least 300 trucks, according to a Saturday announcement by the national oil corporation.
Nigerians are excited by the news and hope that future developments will result in lower gas costs at filling stations. It appears that this has been approved.
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Source: Legit.ng
