Olu Falae, a former minister of finance, budget, and national planning, maintains that the government cannot operate Nigeria’s refineries and that the country should sell them off and repair them.

The most populous country in Africa and one of the biggest producers of crude oil have relied on fuel imports for many years to meet local demand due to underperforming state-run refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna.

Falae, however, advocated for a different strategy on Thursday.

The senior statesman stated on Channels Television’s Politics Today, “I think that when we are able to repair and recommission our refineries and sell to companies that know how to run refineries, Nigeria’s problem with fuel and its price will be substantially resolved.”

“We shouldn’t attempt to handle them ourselves because politics will get involved and we won’t be able to do them well. I apologise for saying this,” he uttered.

Nigeria was exchanging petrol for petrol subsidies for its own market in exchange for oil valued at billions of dollars.

It was a major drain on foreign cash during a period when oil income was declining due to the coronavirus outbreak and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. But President Bola Tinubu announced the termination of the subsidy programme at his inauguration, which caused the commodity’s price to quadruple.

Falae, the Oluabo of Ilu-Abo in Ondo State, contends that the sale of the refineries—which has grown to be a contentious topic in the nation—is the best way to handle the matter.

Therefore, we fix them and offer them for sale to others who can run refineries. Subsequently, they will employ those refineries to process Nigerian crude oil and market it to us Nigerians. That significantly lessens the impact of the dollar exchange rate, according to Falae.

“I have a strong feeling that the day we make that decision, fuel prices will drop significantly. That is beyond my doubt.

Additionally, he thinks Nigerians shouldn’t purchase crude oil at the price set by the global market.

In my opinion, Nigeria is endowed naturally with crude oil. “God himself has bestowed it upon us to aid in promoting growth,” the monarch stated during the current affairs programme. Therefore, rather than purchasing it at the price of the global market, we ought to pay the cost of production plus a fair profit margin to the manufacturers.