Mr Eze Onyekpere, a legal practitioner and human rights lawyer has called for 500 billion dollars support for Dangote refinery to end fuel subsidy regime in the country.
Onyekpere made this call in his paper presentation at a Policy Dialogue on Fuel Subsidy Regime organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) FCT Council on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to the Onyekpere this became necessary as the forex out flow is too much and not in the interest of the country.
“We can give him extra five hundred million dollars which he will repay over time and stop this important and he begins to create jobs locally and after a couple of years there will be massive corporate income tax it will be a win win for everybody.”
The human rights lawyer also called on the Government to refer back to the Petroleum Industry Act allowing NNPC and it’s subsidiaries to conduct its business in a profitable and efficient manner.
“What we are practicing is called consumption subsidy we can convert to commercial consumption, if we have functional refineries, if our OPEC quarter is 1.8 billion barrels a day what stops NNPC to dig up extra three or four hundred barrels.
“Send it to local refineries at 50 per cent of the international price of the barrel of crude oil at that price we have already covered the production price and make a little margin which is not the margin you would have made if it is sold at the international market.
“Then you can decide the price it would be sold at the local market making sure that it is not exported or smuggled out.
“So that forms another alternative to subsidy but that needs a level of honesty and accountability from Government.
“To do that so you can shift from consumption subsidy to production subsidy which will be a win win situation for the country as well,” he said.
Onyekpere added that there is a consensus already on, adding that trillions taken from it and invested in transportation, primary health care or agriculture would make a great difference in the nation.
He called on civil society and the media to hold politicians accountable to their promises.
Earlier while making his opening remarks the FCT Council Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Ogbeche said the issue of fuel subsidy regime was critical to the existence of the country and therefore the media needed to beam it’s search light on it as agenda setters.
“This year alone we have have countless number of fuel scarcity you discover that within this fuel scarcity period if you calculate it it might be over a hundred days in total with the number.
“Over N5 billion is paid for fuel subsidy this year, this should of worry and concern to you and I. Just imagine investing N5 billion in social infrastructure in this country, maybe in transportation, education or water.
“What will be the developmental impact in our country? So this conversation is primarily to look at the major issues and arrive at a consensus.
“And make a demand on Government that the management of fuel subsidy has been very poor, it lies in corruption and there is no clarity about it.” Ogbeche said.
Also speaking at the dialogue, Mr Charles Ibiang, Chairman for Partners for Petroleum and Energy Sector Prosperity Initiate also called for an end to fuel subsidy.
“The fuel subsidy is a criminal franchise and should be stopped, if we cannot determine how much petrol the country uses in a day, to continue to allocate money to subsidy is not Sustainable.”
According to him, 55 million barrels are imported but only 35 million is consumed meaning that 20 million is stolen.
Ibiang said Government should conduct an open and transparent public inquiry to determine the actual PMS consumption, on the basis of which a final subsidy decision should be made.
In attendance at the gathering are civil society groups, media partners and journalists from both the private and public organisations.
