8 May 2023
The NNPC Joint Venture Partner in the 100,000 barrels per day refinery currently being developed within the Port Harcourt Refinery Complex, African Refinery Port Harcourt Limited, has lauded the bold decision to remove the premium motor spirit (PMS) subsidy.
African Refinery’s Chief Executive Officer, Omotayo Adebajo in a statement made available to journalists, also called on Nigerians to endure the immediate hardship caused by the subsidy removal and to support President Bola Tinubu move.
Adebajo who said the move to subsidy removal has been long overdue acknowledged that the subsidy removal has resulted in higher pump prices believes that the President’s action will boost investment in local refinery capacity in the long run while the short-term benefit that will free up money that can be immediately channelled by the new government into high impact projects that would benefit a vast majority of Nigerians.
He also used the opportunity to call on President Tinubu to treat governance as a continuum by deepening the previous government’s commitment to supporting local refinery projects made by Buhari through NNPC Limited’s strategic equity investment in African Refinery’s 100kbd project in Port Harcourt and the recently commissioned Dangote Refinery in Lagos.
He noted that these projects are critical to Nigeria’s drive to stop the importation of fuel and guarantee energy security and can only succeed with the continued support of the Federal Government. He, therefore, reiterated the call that has been made in many circles for the new government to continue to support private sector investors, especially in the areas of access to feedstock and government-backed low-interest finance.
