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Fuel importers are doing magic to keep sell below N300 per litre – FG
It is pure magic for fuel importers to continue selling Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) at below N300 per litre, given the huge loss they incur, the Federal Government, said on Monday, stating that there was no way such a regime could be sustained over a longer period.
Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for petroleum resources, who made the argument, on Monday, Monday at the government’s accountability series titled ‘PMB administration scorecard 2015-2023,’ said, he would not mind buying petrol at N300 a litre.
Making a serious argument against continued subsidising of petroleum products in the country, he said at the event designed to showcase the achievements of Buhari’s administration since he came into power in 2015, that Nigeria must copy the examples of other countries, which sold their products at commercial rates.
Hear him: “Under a subsidised regime, who is going to invest? If you build a refinery, how is your refinery going to make profit under a subsidised regime? But if you have a market-driven situation, you’ll see that a lot of investors will come. And the more refineries we have, this problem of access to petroleum products will be a thing of the past.
“The management of the supply situation under this subsidy regime is not easy. We must all agree so much money is being burnt on our cars. But somehow we have to seek funds in order to keep the country wet. Sometimes, if you really think deeply, you begin to wonder what magic they are doing to even be able to keep this country wet, considering that you buy something, let’s say for N10 and you are to sell it at a loss.
“And then you are expected to go back and buy the same thing and come back and sell at a loss, so that at every point in time you are looking for more money to continue to buy it because you are mandated to sell it at a loss. If you are a businessman, look at it from that perspective, that you are in a business where you are mandated to sell at a loss to the population.”
Asked if he would be glad to buy the commodity at the higher price he was advocating, he said: “Frankly, if you ask me I will say I won’t feel bad (buying fuel for N300) knowing the actual situation. And if you compare Nigeria to other countries, then you will also understand. Then you convert the N300 to other currencies, you will probably understand. A lot of you travel to the United Kingdom and the United States. How much do you buy petroleum products? Even in Saudi Arabia and in the Arab countries that produce crude oil, convert to naira, you will find out that we are not doing too badly.”
Stating that investment in the petroleum sector, would become attractive only when the cost of petroleum products became market-driven, he argued that the alternative was for them to continue to shy away, especially from the downstream oil sector.
Stressing that no investor would be willing to put their money into the sector when the market is free, Sylva, former Governor of Bayelsa State, argued that given the parlous situation in the Niger Delta at the inception of Buhari, the Federal Government ought to receive a gold trophy for the amount of security the people of the area were now enjoying, adding that the situation had contributed to increased oil production.
He said that the government had strengthened real-time tracking of supply and distribution, thereby, improving security in the operating environment, adding that his ministry was able to pass landmark legislation such as the Deep Sea and Inland Basin Act and the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), adding that it was also promoting indigenous participation by facilitating crude access and ease of license approval.
He said the ministry was also able to surpass the projected five percent reduction in crude oil production costs, adding that kerosene was no longer within the direct purview of the FG, since the price had now been deregulated, even though it remained the fuel of the less-privileged.
He said the gas flare commercialisation programme, was at the final stage of being awarded to potential winners, which he acknowledged as one of the achievements of the present administration.
The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi says he is aware of some evil designs against himself and his supporters in the coming months.
The former Anambra State governor disclosed this in a statement released on his verified Twitter handle on Monday, May 29, 2023.
The release of the statement coincided with the inauguration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Nigeria’s President at the Eagle Square in Abuja.
I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.
— Peter Obi (@PeterObi) May 28, 2023
See full statement:
For all Nigerians, this is a time for deep reflection. It is also a time to re-examine our assumptions, even as we reaffirm our hopes. Let us calmly review our aspirations, in order to recalibrate our expectations and pin down the causes of our missed opportunities and disappointments.
We stand at that critical moment in time when, as a people, we must collectively come to grips with the reality of our injured destiny as well as the reasons for that injury. It is for us to reassess our plight as a young democracy and identify clear pathways to a better and greater future for us all. As we await the verdict of the election tribunal, I urge all Nigerians to use this opportunity to renew their commitment to the Nigerian ideal. That ideal remains noble and worth every sacrifice we can make.
Nigeria remains our only patrimony and it is a patrimony we must protect, rather than violate. We have no other nation but this, so let us remain committed to rescuing and rebuilding it.
The judiciary is part of the democratic enterprise and a critical governance tool for determining the propriety of the decisions and actions of every citizen and every institution of state. To that extent, and for that reason, I urge everyone to treat it with the respect and dignity it deserves.
We expect that the Nigerian judiciary will use the election cases now before it to reaffirm its independence and integrity. It has to do so, for all our sakes and for itself.
Nigerians must, therefore, remain peaceful and law abiding. No matter the depth of anyone’s reservations about what is going on in the polity today, no matter the real and imagined provocations, and no matter the disagreement out there, we should remember that this will not last forever.
I remain committed, and untiring, in my determination to work with like-minded fellow Nigerians to end the curse of missed opportunities and squandered hope that has become our lot here.
I will never shrink from that original commitment, because I firmly believe that we must change from the present politics of criminality, and corruption, in order to make a new Nigeria possible.
I call on fellow Nigerians, especially the youths to remain steadfast, calm, patient, and peaceful. Our journey may be long and difficult but it is worth it in every way. Victory is assured.
We have to work together to move our beautiful country from corruption and criminality to a center of productivity rather than aimless consumption.
I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.
These schemes will aim at degrading our support base and confusing the public. But, no evil campaign will alter the substance of my character; nor diminish my patriotic commitment to a better Nigeria. It is about the future of our youths. it is about ending the Years of Locust.
In all of this, I thank Nigerians, our great party (LP) and the media. The latter, as the Fourth Estate of the realm, has remained a trusted ally.
This Estate must continue to guide our people on the immense promise of a future in a new Nigeria.
God bless Nigeria and protect the troops keeping us safe in this season of vaulting insecurity.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. –PO
Channels
James Faleke, lawmaker and Secretary of the now defunct All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council (APC-PCC), has revealed that President Bola Tinubu would unveil members of his cabinet within 60 days.
Channels Television, which quoted him as saying on Monday, at the inauguration of of Tinubu and Kashim Shettima as president and vice-president of Nigeria was underway at the Eagle Square in Abuja, said the President, would , unveil his cabinet as soon as possible.
Faleke, who promised that the new President would bring a different approach to power, was quoted as saying: “Of course, within 60 days, that’s what the law says. He can announce anytime but I just know he must do it within 60 days.”
Eradication of terrorism, waging war against corruption and battling the crippling poverty in Nigeria, would form the fulcrum of a new Nigeria President Bola Tinubu, says he would strive to put in place as his new government began hours ago after assuming the reins of power as the 16th President, after Muhammadu Buhari handed over to him at an elaborate ceremony at the Eagle Square, Abuja, on Monday.
Vowing to defend Nigeria from all forms of terror, as well as end extreme poverty in the country, Tinubu, told Nigerians: “I will do that through job creation and food security and end to extreme poverty. I will ensure that corruption is tacked by strenghtening anti-corruption agencies.”
He also promised that his administration would discourage corruption through the introduction of a credit culture, stating: “Our government will continue to take proactive steps such as championing a credit culture to discourage corruption while strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the various anti-corruption agencies.”
It was also on a day the President, who had during his presidential campaigns, promised Nigerians that he would remove subsidy on petroleum products, made good his words by announcing suspension on them, adding that the era of payments on fuel was gone, as the 2023 Budget made no provision for fuel subsidy “and more so, subsidy payment is no longer justifiable.”
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