President Bola Ahmed Tinubu praised the Implementation Committee on the Naira-based sales of crude oil and refined products during a review meeting at the State House on Tuesday.
He emphasized the importance of resolving any initial challenges while insisting that the government “will not go back to the old way of doing things.”
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu highlighted that using the Naira aims to eliminate exchange rate hurdles.
“Whatever solution we proffer in crude oil and refined products sales in Naira should not take us back to our experience in the last 40 years,” he stated.
The President noted, “There can be cost and revenue adjustment in the oil sector, but the issue is that the government will not have to go back to the old way of doing things.”
He urged key players, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery, to focus on enhancing the Nigerian economy and improving citizens’ living standards.
Tinubu also called on stakeholders to prioritize local supply of petrol and petroleum products to reduce dependency on imports. This, he argued, would help channel foreign exchange into developing the real sector.
He recommended that stakeholders use Afreximbank as a settlement bank to facilitate Naira pricing for crude and refined products, confirming that Afreximbank is already on board as the financial adviser.
“The market must determine what we are doing. Once you allow the market to determine the profit and loss, independent marketers and the government side can meet on the worksheet. I want the issues resolved without future waste of time,” he added.
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Tinubu expressed optimism about achieving energy security, asserting, “We can have energy security, and the motivation for Alhaji Aliko Dangote will not be defeated. It will be more predictable on a medium and long-term basis.”
During the meeting, Dangote emphasized the refinery’s capacity, stating that it currently holds more than 500 million litres of fuel in reserve after supplying 400 million litres to the economy.
“What I estimated as our daily consumption is about 30-32 million litres, that one we can even start producing by next week,” Dangote said, reiterating the refinery’s readiness to meet local needs.
He urged NNPCL and other marketers to halt imports and utilize local production, stating, “I don’t know if you understand what it means to keep half a billion litres in our tanks; it is costing me money. Every day if I am to collect money, I can charge 32 percent in interest. That is what I am losing. If they come and collect, then you will not see any queue in the filling stations.”
The meeting was attended by key stakeholders, including the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who assured Tinubu that the government’s initiatives to sell crude in Naira would remain in place without reversals.
Zach Adedeji, the chairman of the technical committee and head of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, also emphasized the vision to transform Nigeria into a hub for refined products to be exported globally.
Other notable attendees included the President and Chairman of the Board of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, and the CEO of NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, among others.
