September 24, (THEWILL) – President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has urged the Federal Government to get rid of subsidy on petrol.
Speaking on Monday, with Francine Lacqua, during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, Dangote said fuel from his 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery could actually stabilise the naira and as well, give accurate assessment of petrol consumption in Nigeria.
Noting that petroleum products consumed about 40 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange, Dangote said discussions are currently ongoing to finalise details of crude oil sales agreement in naira set to begin in October.
His words: “Subsidy is a very sensitive issue. Once you are subsidising something then people will bloat the price and then the government will end up paying what they are not supposed to be paying. It is the right time to get rid of subsidies.
“Well, you see, we have a choice of either one. We produce, we export, and when we produce, we sell locally. But we are a big private company. And yes, it’s true, we have to make a profit. We build something worth $20 billion so definitely we have to make money.
“The removal of subsidies is totally dependent on the government, not on us. We cannot change the price, but I think the government will have to give up something for something. So I think at the end of the day, this subsidy will have to go.
“But this refinery will resolve a lot of issues out there, you know, it will show the real consumption of Nigeria, because, you know, nobody can tell you. Some people say 60 million litres of gasoline per day. Some say it’s less.
“But right now, if you look at it by us producing, everything can be counted. So everything can be accounted for, particularly for most of the trucks or ships that will come to load from us. We are going to put a tracker on them to be sure they are going to take the oil within Nigeria, and that, I think, can help the government save quite a lot of money. I think it is the right time, you know, to remove the subsidy.”
