Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta Affairs, Ita Enang, has assured Nigerians that the presidency has put measures in place to reduce fuel price to about N100.
He said part of the plans to achieve the goal was to host a national conference on artisanal and modular refining to integrate local refiners into mainstream refining of petroleum products.
Speaking in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State at the weekend, Enang said the Federal Government had agreed to partner with those in the creeks on how to legalise their businesses to enable them to refine with local capacity.
Enang explained that the conference, scheduled for March 15 to 17, 2021, was the Federal Government’s response to the amnesty extended to the former illegal refiners.
“We need to agree with those in the creeks on how to legalise their business because of the danger the current practice poses to the environment and the country’s economy.
“Therefore, the Federal Government will hold a national conference on artisanal and modular refining between March 15 and 17 to integrate local refiners into mainstream refining in Nigeria.
“It is necessary to do in-country refining to avoid certain duties and charges connected with importation of petroleum products. With this step, it would be possible to have the products for less than N100 per liter, because other charges relating to clearing the cargo would have been dropped,” he said.
On the Calabar-Itu Road, Enang, who is former Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, challenged legislators from Akwa Ibom and Cross River State at the national level to declare what effort they have made to draw Federal Government attention to the state of the road.
“I challenge all members of the House of Representatives, all senators representing Akwa Ibom and Cross River State and the Governor of Akwa Ibom State to raise their hands to God and speak about their efforts towards the state of Calabar-Itu road,” he said
Speaking on the need to diversify the nation’s economy as the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, Enang said the Basin Development Authority had ceded all lands within its jurisdiction in all Niger Delta states to his office for agricultural purposes.
He disclosed that as part of its Emergency Agricultural Programme, the Federal Government had released grants to beneficiaries collated through his office to enable them to go into large-scale agricultural businesses.
He added that the programme would be consummated through the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Nigeria Agricultural Lands Development Authority (NALDA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Cross River Basin Development Authority.
