Tinubu Should Not Fall Into The Toxic Trap Of Petroleum Ministry – Okechukwu Warns

The former director general of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has cautioned President Bola Tinubu to avoid delving into the petroleum ministry to serve as its minister like his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.

Naija News reports that Okechuchukwu made this known in an interview with Punch while speaking on Tinubu’s economic policies and excruciating hunger in the country.

Okechukwu urged President Tinubu to consider relinquishing the portfolio of the Minister of Petroleum to enable the Coordinating Policy Unit, headed by Hadiza Bala Usman and other relevant agencies, to thoroughly monitor and scrutinize the less-than-transparent transactions going on in the ministry.

He stated that corruption ravaged the oil industry despite Buhari serving as Minister of Petroleum, adding the outcome was the loss of over $70 billion in the importation of refined petroleum products, with an attendant foreign exchange imbalance.

He said, “There is no policy without a missing link; the missing link one could point at is that the oil industry seems opaque and should be sanitised to reduce the cost of the pump price of fuel. One had humbly, in a public statement, appealed to Mr President to consider relinquishing the portfolio of Minister of Petroleum so that the Coordinating Policy Unit, headed by Hadiza Bala Usman and other relevant agencies could thoroughly monitor and scrutinise the less-than-transparent transactions going on there.

“I cautioned Mr President not to fall into the toxic state-capture trap of the petroleum ministry, which made his predecessors fail to fix any of the four refineries in over 20 years. This woeful incapacity to fix any refinery was because the syndrome of African big men played as corruption ravaged the oil industry. The outcome was the loss of over $70bn in importation of refined petroleum products, with is attendant foreign exchange imbalance.

“Secondly, simple arithmetic dictates that if Dangote refinery is allocated the over 300,000 barrels per day they announced with instruction to sell at N500 per litre, as TUC advised, the price of food and commodities will fall drastically. And Nigerians will breathe.

“President Tinubu is bold and courageous in taking uncomfortable decisions which others were shy to take. Methinks he had chosen an economic route he is convinced will redeem our dear country and pull us out from the economic doldrums. He has also embarked on programmes like the CNG, the national students’ loan, major road projects and agricultural incentives to farmers.”