President Bola Tinubu has commended the Implementation Committee on the naira-based sales of crude oil and refined products and asked the members to resolve any teething problems.
In a review meeting on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja, the President said using the Naira was conceived to remove the exchange rate hurdle.
“Whatever solution we proffer in crude oil and refined products sales in Naira should not take us back to our experience in the last 40 years.
“There can be cost and revenue adjustment in the oil sector, but the issue is that the government will not have to go back to the old way of doing things,” the President stated.
He said the various players in the oil sector, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (NNPCL) and the Dangote Refinery, should work to improve the economy and the livelihood of Nigerians.
The President urged stakeholders to look inward and consider supplying enough petrol and petroleum products for local consumption to stop the persistent reliance on importation.
He said this would enable the channelling of foreign exchange into the development of the real sector.
The President advised stakeholders to use Afreximbank as a settlement bank to resolve the Naira pricing for crude and refined products. Afreximbank is already on board as the financial adviser.
“The market must determine what we are doing. Once you allow the market to determine the profit and loss, independent marketers and the government side can meet on the worksheet.
“I want the issues resolved without future waste of time.
“We can have energy security, and the motivation for Alhaji Aliko Dangote will not be defeated. It will be more predictable on a medium and long-term basis,” the President said.
Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy said the administration’s groundbreaking steps to sell crude in Naira would not be reversed.
He said the government would not be involved in determining the rate of exchange for the oil sector.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, told the President that the refinery had more than 500 million litres of fuel in reserve after supplying 400 million to the economy.
He said the refinery could collaborate with the other refineries managed by NNPCL to meet an estimated 32 million litres of local petrol needs.
Zach Adedeji, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, who chairs the technical committee, said importing refined products should end once the capacity to produce enough to meet domestic needs was achieved.
“The vision of Mr President is to turn Nigeria into a hub for refined products to export to the world,” he said.
At the meeting included Prof. Benedict Oramah, the President and Chairman of the Board of Afreximbank, and Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and National Planning and Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of NNPC Limited, among others.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
