The convener of PVC Initiative for Good Governance in Diaspora (PIGGD), Mr. Wisdom Opara has kicked against the idea of Dangote’s refinery importing crude oil from United States.
Opara in a statement he made available to newsmen, highlighted the economic implication of such move, adding that the crude oil in Nigeria should rather be drilled and refined.
“This is economic sabotage, President Bola Amed Tinubu is working assiduously to restore the damages the country had sustained, and we know it won’t be easy, but Nigerians won’t accept a bullet in our hearts. The crude oil deposited in the country is enough to serve Nigerians, so, why importing crude oil when we are one of the major crude oil exporters in the world”
He questioned Nigeria’s status as the highest oil producers in Africa, while insisting we must use most of our natural resources to tackle the economic transition President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is spearheading.
“The President needs everybody, to make Nigeria better is not left for him alone, we must sacrifice and understand we don’t have another country”
He further decried that importing crude oil from US will weaken Naira and render Nigeria’s economic recovery driven by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu fruitless.
“The economy will be grossly affected and Naira will crash furthest to a point we can’t hold on again. We rely or exportation of crude oil to cushion the fall of Naira, now having a major company that was supposed to make life easier for us going out there to import that same crude oil from another country that rely on us for same natural resource is unimaginable”
Going further, the leader of the Diaspora group questioned the sincerity of Dangote’s refinery in the claim to import crude oil from US.
He argued that Nigerians were expecting the local refinery to ease or lower the price of fuel which has direct impact on the country’s economy.
Opara further argued that the public declaration that crude oil will be imported from US by Dangote, the company might be unknowingly planning to negatively aggravate the inflation in the country and sabotage President Tinubu’s economic recovery.
“If criminals can refine crude at their backyards and bushes, without importing from anywhere, why can’t Dangote do same in higher quantities? The idea of crude importation will not help our country or economy”
He insisted that the main purpose of erecting a refinery was to refine crude oil locally and boost the economy of the country.
“The target must be to use the raw materials we have, refine and then export. The reverse should not be the case here. Importing crude and refining here is simply a backward move that would impoverish the country and sabotage the economic recovery plans of this administration” he said.
“We should talk about refining and exporting to US and not buying what we have already” he concluded
