21 November 2012, Sweetcrude, Lagos – CHIEF Executive Officer of Metib Oil and Gas Ltd., Mr. Adewumi Ilori, has blamed corruption for the abuse of Nigeria’s petrol subsidy regime.
“The question is not whether to totally remove subsidy or sustain the current N97 pump price of petrol. The real issue is about tackling corruption in the oil and gas sector,” he told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Lagos.
Ilori said that the no subsidy regime would be worthwhile if corruption in the oil sector was properly addressed.
He advised government to make sure that those indicated by the probe panels in the oil sector were made to face the law no matter their status in society.
“Our government should also study the recommendations of those probe panels to guide it in its subsidy policy. It is important to consider the hardship that total removal of fuel subsidy will bring to the people and the accompanying inflation and high cost of living,” he said.
Ilori, however, said that he was not averse to total removal of fuel subsidy, adding that relying almost completely on importation of petrol would continue to impoverish Nigerians.
Ilori advised the Federal Government to make sure that the four refineries were in their maximum production capacity before embarking on full deregulation of the oil industry.
“We must not lose sight of the need to have palliative measures in place before asking Nigerians to buy petrol above the current N97,” he said.