On Wednesday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris, said in Kano that because of the nation’s porous borders and fuel subsidy being paid by the federal government, about one billion litres of Nigeria’s petrol, representing 53 per cent, were smuggled out
He, however, disclosed that the removal of the fuel subsidy was necessary because those not paying tax were benefiting from the subsidy more than Nigerians.
He stated this during an Iftar (Breaking of Fast) with some media executives and practitioners in Kano, adding that the country recorded a drop in the domestic consumption of fuel by 53 per cent after the removal of fuel subsidies.
He, however, hinted that “the domestic consumption of petrol has gone down by about 53%, meaning that over a billion litres of fuel that we used to consume during pre-subsidy removal are now gone. And the question you will ask yourself is: Where has this fuel been going?
He then wondered, ” How suddenly is it that domestic consumption has gone down by 53 per cent? It means that this petrol was finding its way out of our porous borders for the benefit of those who are not paying tax to this country.
Alhaji Idris, while commenting on the ailing refineries in the country, said the Port Harcourt refinery would begin production next week and others would follow suit in no distant time to stop the importation of fuel into the country.
According to him, the government had deactivated over 6,000 illegal refineries, with over 4,000 of the illegal pipelines disconnected.
He noted that “it doesn’t make sense to continue to subsidise somebody else’s home when your roof is leaking, your window is broken, and your child has not gone to school. You have to subsidise yourself before you subsidise somebody else.
The benefit of that is that, already, consumption has gone down by over 1 billion litres, representing about 53 per cent. Why is that so?” he said.
While speaking on insecurity, the minister said, ” I want you to have faith in our security agencies in doing that. All of them are working. They are Nigerians; we all saw what happened in Delta. Who is happy that somebody who has sworn an allegiance to keep this together will just wake up and attempt to kill that person? Any attempt at our armed forces is also an attempt at the sovereignty of this country.
He added that ” President Tinubu has said clearly in his statement that it is unacceptable and all the perpetrators will be brought to book and punished without harming other community members.
He recalled that “in February 2024, our armed forces neutralised 974 terrorists, apprehended 621 suspects, rescued 466 hostages, and recovered over 1,500 weapons.
“I think we need to amplify that. And you need to know that these terrorists are also fighting psychological warfare against all of us. So, I urge you, as practitioners, not to celebrate these criminal elements with your reportage. We need to deny them their capacity to do propaganda and inflict psychological wounds on all of us as Nigerians. It is our collective duty to deny terrorists that possibility,”
He, however, disclosed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has attracted $30 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments into the real sectors of the nation’s economy since its assumption of office.
According to him, “These investment commitments—covering various sectors including manufacturing, telecoms, healthcare, oil and gas, and others—are already being realised.
The Minister further disclosed that the Nigerian economy grew by 3.46 per cent (year-on-year) in Q4 2023 when compared with 2.54 in the preceding quarter, which he said was a better performance than anticipated.
Capital imports into Nigeria increased by 66 per cent in Q4 2023, compared with Q3 2023, reversing a 36 per cent decline in the previous quarter.
President Tinubu’s new Oil and Gas policy reforms programme would, when implemented, generate a billion cubic feet per day additional gas supply, create 2.3 million jobs, boost GDP by $17 Billion Compress Nigeria’s oil and gas contracting cycle from 38 months to <6 months.
The new tax incentives being implemented have the potential to attract up to $10 billion in new oil and gas investment,and the new Presidential Policy Directive would bring down operating costs for oil and gas operations in Nigeria, which are currently 40% higher than the global average.he said
He, however, hinted that enhanced security measures across the Niger Delta had already grown NLNG cargoes from an average of 16 cargoes in 2023 to 21 cargoes in Q12024.
He also disclosed that Nigeria’s oil production had risen from 1.22 mbpd in Q2 2023 to 1.6 mbpd in Q1 2024.
While he stated that the Post-Oil Subsidy Removal Economic Relief Interventions were designed to serve as palliatives in the short and medium-term, “while we wait to reap the long-term benefits of the reforms: a provisional wage increment of N35,000 monthly for six months—four months already paid,” the minister added.
Speaking further, he said that with the establishment of state police in Nigeria, about 10 million Nigerians will be directly and indirectly employed, with each state in Nigeria requiring an average of 20,000–30,000 police recruits as a result.
He therefore added that local manufacturers and producers of police fabrics and accessories will multiply.
Civil society and lawyers at sub-national levels will be more fully engaged as litigation and prosecutions increase.
Agitation for the restructuring of the underpinning structure of the country has been on the front burner of agitation by various subnational groups, civic society, and public intellectuals.
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