Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja
Nigeria has saved $15.4bn as a result of
the elimination of subsidy on petroleum products since May this year,
the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has
said.
Kachikwu disclosed this while hosting
members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum
(Downstream) at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
The lawmakers were at the ministry as part of their oversight functions.
Kachikwu, who was represented by the
ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Jemila Su’ara, also thanked the
National Assembly for supporting the ministry and its agencies when the
price modulation template was introduced in May.
In a statement issued by the ministry’s
Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr. Idang Alibi, the minister
stated that the price modulation had eliminated subsidies and
liberalised the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
Outlining the achievements recorded
under his stewardship, Kachikwu said Nigeria was able to sign Memoranda
of Understandings worth about $80bn during his recent trips to China and
India; partial resuscitation of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna
refineries; repair of products’ pipelines; and the resuscitation of
supply of products from Atlas Cove-Mosimi-Ibadan-Ilorin after a six-year
lull.
Others, according to the statement,
include improved crude oil supply to the Warri and Kaduna refineries and
savings of $15.4bn for the Federal Government as a result of the
elimination of subsidy payments for petroleum products.
In his response, the Chairman of the
committee, Mr. Joseph Akinlaja, said the oil industry was the life blood
of the Nigerian economy.
This, he said, was why the National
Assembly and all Nigerians were interested in what was going on in the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources and its parastatals and agencies.
Akinlaja said the committee members paid
the visit in order to be properly briefed on the activities of the
ministry in order to know what legislative support they could give for
the achievement of its plans, programmes and projects.
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