Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been advised to update himself on the renaissance and recent developments in the downstream sector of Nigeria’s oil industry before commenting or offering suggestions on the sector.
According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), Atiku’s claim that Nigeria is the largest importer of premium motor spirit (PMS) is fallacious, baseless, unfounded and shows lack of proper due diligence.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO said a recent report by America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on refined petroleum products imports shows that Nigeria is far from being the largest importer of refined fuel, as claimed by Atiku.
“We are, in fact, on the 31st position on that list which was updated only as recently as April this year
“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is beginning to sound like a bird with a broken beak on his idea of oil sector reform.
The level of imprecision in his statements have shown how uninformed and insincere he would have been to Nigerians if he was elected President”.
“It is interesting to note that Atiku has again, in his usual inconsistency, changed his view on the sale of NNPC by concluding his long, winding, yet hollow arguments for the privatization of the nation’s refineries by acknowledging and welcoming the recent announcement by the NNPC that the refineries would be privatised.
“This, yet, is another of the failed PDP presidential candidate’s grandstanding in the most shallow manner on economic matters.
“Again, coming after a policy position has been declared, the former Vice President and his cohorts should note that by the strategic initiative of the Federal Government, Nigeria will emerge a net exporter of refined petroleum products to the rest of Africa by 2022”.
“Nigerians should know that the model of the Federal Government privatisation of the refineries is different from the one canvassed by VP Atiku.
“While he wants the refineries sold as abysmally undervalued scraps, President Buhari’s model is to first turn around the refineries and thereafter concession them on an ‘operate and manage’ basis; the underlying ownership of the functional refineries will belong to Nigerians”
BMO reminded Atiku that the Buhari administration has given support to Dangote Industries which is building Africa’s biggest refinery, that is coming on stream by 2021.
“This alone will have the capacity to process about 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day and will eliminate the need to import refined products into Nigeria.
“It is worthy to note that the President Buhari administration has issued tens of licences to investors in modular and large refineries, and some of them are already in their final stages of completion.
“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar needs to tune in and keep abreast of the renaissance in the sector unleashed by the Buhari administration, and we advise him and his friends that are desperate to buy Nigeria’s refineries to go and procure licences and build theirs as Dangote has done so that Nigeria would be among the frontline exporters of refined products in future”, the statement added.
