NECA tasks FG on ending oil theft

By Bimbola Oyesola

The Nigeria Employers Consultative  Association (NECA) has charged the Federal Government to provide a lasting solution to the incessant challenges in the oil sector through building new refineries.

Director-general of NECA, Mr. Adewale Oyerinde, described as a huge economy sabotage the high level of crude oil theft, as well as pipeline vandalism in the country.

Oyerinde, at a press briefing in Lagos, lamented that the trillions being expended yearly on subsidy could conveniently build a fresh refinery.

He appealed to the federal government to fix the nation’s refineries, to be able to refine locally, instead of importing refined products, which according to him, causes capital flight, as well as loss of huge revenue by the country.

“We should maximize our revenue by refining locally”, he stated.

He reasoned that beyond the issue of oil theft, the pipelines have also aged, necessitating their shut-down, stressing that turnaround maintenance of the nation’s refineries may not be the best option.

The NECA boss noted that for several years government has been budgeting huge resources for turn around maintenance without nothing to show for it.

But rather, he insisted that government should either build new ones or encourage the private sector to do so, as in the case of Dangote refineries, which would save the country enough revenue.  While urging the federal government to remove oil subsidies and re-jig the nation’s economy, the NECA boss said, the economy has not had it so bad like this before, listing multiple taxes, high inflation rates, increase in foreign debts, unemployment as well as incessant strikes amongst other economic hiccups.

He stated that the money spends on subsidy could be used to build new refineries, instead of few Nigerians benefitting from such governments inefficiency.

He however recalled with dismay, how the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources recently disclosed that, it has no financial records of fuel subsidy payments from the year 2017 to 2021.

“Let us face the consequences of the subsidy removal once and for all. I also support the labour position that subsidy is a scam,” he said.

Oyerinde also condemned the excessive taxation being imposed on businesses, saying it is affecting the private sector as well as businesses.

He said, “As we are trying to bridge the gap, the federal government is creating a bottleneck for private sectors through multiple taxes. There is a need for the government to give a clear roadmap. Government should think on how to cushion the pressure of inflation like in other developed countries of the world.”