Comment On Selling Refineries By Tinubu’s Appointee Stirs Reactions From Stakeholders

Some industry players in the oil and gas industry have reacted to the comment made by the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, who has called on Nigerians to pray so the nation’s refineries won’t function.

While some oil marketers insist that the federal government should proceed with the repairs of the refineries that have been moribund for years, Naija News understands that other stakeholders in the industry are calling for their sales to the private sector.

On Monday, Oyedele, while speaking at the Platform’s Independence Anniversary event, held in Lagos State, submitted that Nigerians would regret it should the nation’s refineries begin to work.

According to him, “Nigerians would say if only our refineries were working, then we’ll be fine. Nothing can be farther from the truth than that. In fact, Nigerians should come together and say, please make sure that our refineries don’t work. We should sell them.

“The National Assembly said we have spent over N10 trillion maintaining our refineries even when they have not produced anything.”

However, reacting to this submission, the National Controller, of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mike Osatuyi, said it was best the country had its own refineries.

Osatuyi told The Punch, “The government that wants the refineries to work knows what they are doing. Having our own refineries guarantees energy security and would also create more jobs.

“You can’t control what you don’t own. So, it is good for us to have our own. The cost of importing petrol is now very high. I think government is moving in the right direction by making the refineries work very soon,”

Contrary to IPMAN’s stand, the Director-General, of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, Wale Oyerinde, insisted that the refineries should be sold.

According to him, “That has been our position, we have refineries that have not been running profitably for years now, it doesn’t make sense to keep pumping money into something we can’t handle.

“The government should transparently sell it off to Nigerians and let an average Nigerian who wants to buy into it do that, and the government keeps a limited share of it. It has not worked before, so why are we keeping it? I don’t know why Nigerians are sentimental about it.

“It should be sold to individuals who can run it as a business, and then the government will play the role of a regulator rather than continue pumping money into it. It has been our position, that the government should transparently sell it off to Nigerians or private individuals or experts that can run it.”

On his part, the Chairman, of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Niyi Yusuf, told the platform that, “The private sector has proven over time its ability to efficiently optimise assets for the benefit of all stakeholders.

“We have seen this in banking, telecoms, broadcasting, entertainment and other sectors where public assets have been transparently handed over to reputable private managers.

“Underperforming assets such as refineries should be privatised to allow the private sector bring in needed capital, technology, technical capacity and management knowhow so these assets can stop draining public budget and consumers can start to benefit from their products and services.

“More than half of our population have not witnessed our refineries work at optimal capacity. It’s about time we try a new strategy, and privatisation is a proven model.”