Nigerians desire operational refineries as a solution to the country’s economic difficulties – Expert

According to Mr Yusha’u Aliyu, an economic expert, Nigerians expect functional refineries to mitigate the consequences of the removal of subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), better known as petrol.

Aliyu made the remarks in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, in response to President Bola Tinubu’s live broadcast on the country’s economic position on Monday.

According to NAN, Nigerians have experienced hardship and suffering as a result of the current administration’s decision to remove the subsidy on PMS, while the country’s refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna have yet to resume operations.

Aliyu claimed that functional refineries would have resolved all of the competing difficulties surrounding the oil sector’s general inefficiency, although nothing of the sort was addressed.

“The president was technical on inflation, despite the fact that it is the most troubling factor working against targeted prosperity.”

“Now is the best time for the president to intervene.”

“Revisiting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) importers window will guarantee temporary stability of PMS pricing and moderation of inflationary trends,” he said.

Aliyu voiced displeasure over the president’s words on economic topics such as subsidy, palliative care, and the preferential exchange rate system, among others, calling them “the most disturbing in recent times.”

However, he stated that the simple concepts required for a long-term solution should have been functional refineries.

It should be remembered that before the deregulation, fuel was sold at N195 per litre, but quickly soared to N540 per litre after the subsidy was removed, negatively impacting Nigeria’s economic status.

The price of petrol at the pump was raised again in July, from N540 to N617 a litre, citing market realities.

As a result, products and services surged since there was nothing on the ground to buffer the impact of the elimination of gasoline subsidies.

Transport charges also skyrocketed as motorists lamented the situation after discovering that petrol for N20,000 barely lasted a few days.

The Federal Government and labour unions’ involvement on an implementation framework to cushion the effect has yet to be realised, but people’ living conditions are deteriorating, necessitating the current union protest. (NAN)