We Should Focus On Reviving Local Refineries, Not Importing Petrol – Mikko

A former member of the House of Representatives, Bernard Mikko, has condemned the request of independent petroleum marketers for licenses to import petrol on the ground that Dangote products are costly.

Bernard Mikko said the request and accusation of monopoly against the Dangote refinery was unnecessary.

He explained that it would be wrong for independent marketers to import petrol when the Dangote refinery can meet most of the domestic petrol needs of the country.

In an interview with Arise TV, on Friday, Mikko stated that importing petrol would lead to job loss. He noted that the country has reached the stage where it should not be importing petrol instead of refining its crude and harnessing the products in crude refining.

“Marketers are asking for more licenses to import petrol. When we have Dangote refinery, look at the capacity of the refinery, 650,000 barrels a day. The combined capacity of all the four refineries in Nigeria is 445,000 barrels from the Port Harcourt refinery to the Kaduna refinery, and none of them are working. Why are they not worried about the collapse of these refineries? Why are they worried about importing petrol every time?

“Why are they not worried about making our electrical sector work, importing generators into our country? For how long are we going to continue importation? That would put pressure on the dollar. Of course, it would take away the jobs from our young people,” Mikko questioned.

The former Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency representative continued, “By the time we begin to patronize people outside the country, you see, you cannot continue. You can’t grow an economy by consumption. You grow an economy by production. We have crude oil, and we cannot produce the by-products from crude oil. It’s a shame for us.

“We have engineers. We have businessmen and marketers. They just want to bring in cheap petrol and sell. Why don’t they go and produce their own cheaper in Nigeria and sell than to begin to complain of somebody who has tried to do something right in our country?”

The Rivers State former lawmaker advised critics of the Dangote refinery on grounds of monopoly to pull resources together and establish their own refinery.

“That would be better than complaining about the success of an individual who built a refinery in his home country, Nigeria,” he added.