Ohaneze Ndigbo VP Asks FG To Invest In Local Refining Of Petroleum Products
The federal government has been urged to invest adequate resources to restore local refining of petroleum products in Nigeria.
Speaking in Awka, the Vice President of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Damian Okeke Ogene said the incessant hike in the price of fuel is subjecting Nigerians to untold hardship.
Chief Okeke Ogene said the five hundred billion naira proposed for subsidy palliatives for households and others should be channeled to rebuilding collapsed existing refineries and expanding modular refineries to produce enough petroleum products for the country.
He explained that a well deregulated downstream sector should encourage and attract more investors to invest in refining of petroleum products and discourage all forms of monopoly in the entire supply value chain.
Chief Okeke Ogene noted that hike in petroleum products has multiplier effects on socio-economic life of the people and adversely affect all facets of the economy with attendant economic difficulties.
Also speaking, the Anambra State Chairman of Miners Association of Nigeria Chief Henry Igboeli said importation is not a sustainable approach to tackle energy needs of the country.
Chief Igboeli noted that cost of refining and transporting petroleum products from far away countries will always keep the products far beyond the reach of common Nigerians, especially with the continuous depreciation of naira against the dollar.
He urged the federal government to resuscitate the country’s refineries and build new ones in various parts of the country including Anambra State and other Southeast states to make the products accessible and affordable.
