Tinubu commends naira sales for crude oil amid PMS price increase
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Abdullateef Fowewe
Amid the increase in petrol prices across the country, President Bola Tinubu has praised the Implementation Committee for Naira-based crude oil sales, urging swift resolution of initial challenges.
In a statement on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Strategy and Information, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu underscored that the initiative aims to eliminate past exchange rate issues and enhance local economic stability.
The President while speaking at a review meeting at the State House on Tuesday, called on stakeholders, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Dangote Refinery, to prioritise local supply and reduce import dependency, stressing that it would enable the channelling of foreign exchange into the development of the real sector.
Tinubu also said that using the Naira was conceived to remove the exchange rate hurdle.
He said, “Whatever solution we proffer in crude oil and refined products sales in Naira should not take us back to our experience in the last 40 years.
“There can be cost and revenue adjustment in the oil sector, but the issue is that the government will not have to go back to the old way of doing things.”
The President advised stakeholders to use Afreximbank as a settlement bank to resolve the Naira pricing for crude and refined products. Afreximbank is already on board as the financial adviser.
“The market must determine what we are doing. Once you allow the market to determine the profit and loss, independent marketers and the government side can meet on the worksheet. I want the issues resolved without future waste of time.
“We can have energy security, and the motivation for Alhaji Aliko Dangote will not be defeated. It will be more predictable on a medium and long-term basis,’’ the President said.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, affirmed the irreversible nature of the groundbreaking policy, while Dangote reported significant fuel reserves ready for distribution.
