Former Minister of Petroleum and
Energy, Prof. Tamunoemi David-West has excited Nigerians with an assertion
about how much the pump price of petrol will be during the regime of Muhammadu
Buhari, Nigeria’s president-elect.
According to David-West, petrol
price will drop sharply from the current N87 to about N40 per litre. “The
president-elect, Gen. Mohammed Buhari, will reduce the fuel pump price to N40
per litre.”
“I want to assure you that by the
time he takes over, petrol will be dispensed at N40 per litre. This is possible
and he has the credibility to make it work,” he told Vanguard in a telephone
interview.
“The major assignment of the
president-elect when he is eventually inaugurated is to restore confidence to
the industry,” said David-West, who was federal minister of petroleum and
energy from 1984-1985, under General Muhammadu Buhari when he was head of
state.
He noted that Buhari was familiar
with the petroleum industry, being a former Federal Commissioner (position now
called Minister) for Petroleum and Natural Resources himself and a former chairman
of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He couples this
experience with integrity and respect for democratic principles, according to
David-West.
“As military head of state, he
dealt with the Federal Executive Council with the tenets of democracy. Buhari
will build new refineries to make petroleum products available for the masses.
No responsible government will allow the masses to suffer.
“He will strengthen the
refineries within a year. It is possible as we won’t spend any amount in
setting up a green field refinery.
“We already have a blueprint as
we shall use what we have to get what we want,” he added.
Commenting on Buhari’s stance on
fuel subsidy, David-West stated that on many occasions, the president–elect had
disclosed that the subsidy initiative is a fraud which has distorted the
progress expected in the sector. He added that on countless occasions, he had
argued that the country is forced to pay for scam carried out by oil cartel.
This, he noted has been inhibiting efforts to properly carry-out the Turn
Around Maintenance (TAM) for the refineries.
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