The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has commended the policy directive of President Bola Tinubu to sell crude oil to Dangote Petroleum Refinery and any other local refiners in naira.
Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Kano State Chapter, Dr Faruk Umar, said the decision of the President would encourage local investments and development of Nigeria’s latent economic potential.
He said the decision has again shown that Tinubu has the best interest of the nation at heart.
According to him, given his pragmatic and inclusive approach as well as tendency to give listening ear to people, Tinubu will succeed in governing the country well if he continues in this trajectory.
“What the President has done will encourage the likes of Alhaji Aliko Dangote and other foreign investors to invest in the country.
“We also commend Alhaji Aliko Dangote for believing in the Nigerian economy to invest $20 billion single handedly , being the largest investment by an individual in any part of Africa .
” With this development , we are appealing to Alhaji Aliko Dangote to rescind his decision of abandoning his investment in the steel industry as this will make Nigeria self -sufficient in its industrial development.
“Alhaji Aliko Dangote should also reciprocate the gesture by ensuring that over time , the price of petroleum products become more affordable . We commend his kind gesture in bringing drastically the price of diesel and aviation jet fuel,” Umar said.
Umar, who is also President of Association for the Advancement of Rights of Nigerian Shareholders (AARNS), said it was a delight that Dangote would be listing the refinery on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), where every Nigerian can own shares of the company.
Tinubu directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to sell crude to Dangote Refinery and other upcoming refineries in Naira.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, made this known in a post via his official X handle on Monday, July 29.
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Onanuga, who announced President Tinubu’s directive, stated that the move, which is to ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-Naira exchange rate, was adopted by the Federal Executive Council today.
He said: “To ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-Naira exchange rate, the Federal Executive Council today adopted a proposal by President Tinubu to sell crude to Dangote Refinery and other upcoming refineries in Naira.
“Dangote Refinery at the moment requires 15 cargoes of crude, at a cost of $13.5 billion yearly. NNPC has committed to supply four.
“But the FEC has approved that the 450,000 barrels meant for domestic consumption be offered in Naira to Nigerian refineries, using the Dangote refinery as a pilot. The exchange rate will be fixed for the duration of this transaction.
“Afreximbank and other settlement banks in Nigeria will facilitate the trade between Dangote and NNPC Limited. The game-changing intervention will eliminate the need for international letters of credit. It will also save the country billions of dollars used in importing refined fuel.”