Lagos based Entrepreneur Chief Austin Ikubese has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the need to bring down the pump price of Petrol to less than N200 per liter. And also that the AGO diesel to a reasonable price of at least N300 per liter urging him to send a bill to the National Assembly and pass into law a bill that will allow 30% of Nigeria’s Crude Oil be refined for local consumption either by Dangote Refinery or any of the four other refineries in the Country.
He advocates for a bill to be presented to the National Assembly, proposing the allocation of 30% of Nigeria’s crude oil for local refining.
It will be recalled that recently, Mr. Mele Kiyari during an interview on Channels Television had said the pump price per liter of petrol cannot be less than what it is today even if Nigerian refineries are working.
Describing the NNPC Group Executive Director’s statement as a wrong call, Chief Ikubese said Mele Kyari’s statement does not give Nigeria the desired hope in line Mr. President’s Agenda. According to him, the 30% crude for local consumption should be quoted in naira not dollarized.
“Government should set up a strong task force drawn from civil society, labor union, trade union, etc. with men of proving integrity to monitor the activities of the refineries, also the vessels that will deliver the crude oil to the refineries and the refined products PMS and AGO etc. The vessels should be painted with national color for easy monitoring and identification by the security agencies to avoid diverting these products outside the boarder of Nigeria.
“The law should be strong enough that anyone found diverting these products should face life imprisonment. Dangote Refinery should be given 10% out of the 30% while the remaining 20% be distribute among the four (4) refineries or any of them that will be operational by early next year as been planned.
“A section of Dangote refinery should be dedicated for local production for Nigerian consumption while major part of his refinery can produce for exports and the crude for that can be in dollarsas usual. This will bring down 360 degrees the pump price per liter of PMS and AGO diesel, etc. to less than N200 per liter and less than N300 per liter respectively. It will also reduce the pressure on our Naira because the demand for Forex will reduce drastically, thereby attracting both local and foreign investors to go back to business. Nigeria will then begin to enjoy its God given wealth just like every other OPEC county that is blessed with oil such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and UAE.
“Our President has a record of taking bold steps like he did when he was the Governor of Lagos State with the vision to drive away Atlantic Ocean (Bar Beach) and turned it into a mega city (EKO Atlantic). He contested to be a president of Nigeria just once and declared Emilokan (is my time) and God granted it. Even when his own party at the federal level worked against him yet he was focused and God stood by him to be our president today, because he is destined to make hard decisions that will be of benefits to mankind and Nigerians as a whole.
Ikubese further referred to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently asking the Nigeria government to increase Petrol Pump Price to N750 describing it as one that will making living more difficult if heeded, adding that this will further increase hardship the country. According to him, this is only aimed at further impoverishing Nigerians so the country can continue to borrow money from them and be servicing an endless interest on the loan.
“This is the way the western world has been milking Africa. Our father and our President, the commander in Chief of the Armed forces, your Excellency – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigerians are pleading and asking you for a new year 2024 gift by taking the bold steps which you are known for with this request to nairalize, if there is any English word like that, 30% of our crude for local consumption, and fix our refineries.
“People believe nothing goes up in Nigeria that ever comes down. I assure you Sir if properly monitored, in 6 months’ time Nigeria Economy will improve drastically just like what happened in the Telecommunication Industry when it was privatized, and history will never forget you for wiping away hardship in this country. “ He said.
