Posted by From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja. on
President Umaru Yar'Adua has vowed to put an end to the trend of fuel importation in the country by getting the existing refineries back on stream and encouraging the establishment of private refineries across the country.
President Umaru Yar'Adua has vowed to put an end to the trend of fuel importation in the country by getting the existing refineries back on stream and encouraging the establishment of private refineries across the country.
Towards this end, he has directed that all discussions towards the construction of the long awaited private petroleum refinery in Lagos State be fast-tracked immediately, while all forms of political considerations in the siting of such projects has been jettisoned.
This is coming on the heels of the Warri Petroleum Refinery's resumed production at 70 per cent capacity with assured increased production capacity of 90 per cent by the end of this month.
A highly placed Presidency source said the idea of a country like Nigeria, which is one of the major producers of crude oil in the world not being self sufficient in refined petroleum products was not acceptable to the president.
Accordingly, the president as the chairman of the National Energy Council has directed that investment in the form of establishing private refineries be targeted around the Lagos axis which is said to consume between 12 and 15 million litres of fuel per day.
The presidential spokesman, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi, said the president was determined to break the cycle of importing fuel from abroad by targeting potential investors who would build refineries across the country.
'The president has taken his time to critically examine this perennial fuel palaver, as he has been doing on several other national issues to fully understand the problem and proffer lasting solutions. I am sure some of these measures will start bearing fruits very soon in all areas of national life," Adeniyi added.
He confirmed that Warri refinery is now working almost at utmost , capacity with the Kaduna refinery gearing up to get back next week.
Meanwhile, President Yar'Adua has directed all ministries and agencies to drop in its totality all forms of political consideration before awarding or siting any project in any part of country.
Accordingly, emphasis on the siting of physical projects in any part of the country will now be determined by the number of people it will serve and the number it can employ through job creation rather than political consideration.