Fuel Importation: Kyari Must Stop Misleading Nigerians-Energy Expert

By Steve Omelebele

Energy experts and public affairs analysts have condemned the continued importation of refined products, describing it as a setback for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms, his renewed hope agenda and an ever present threat to Nigeria’s emerging refinery sector.

A public policy expert, Dr. Abimbola Oyarinu, particularly warned that unless Nigeria reduces its dependence on imports and addresses the erosion of the Naira’s value, it could end up following Venezuela’s path.

Dr. Oyarinu made the observation as industry experts continue to ponder the ding-dong between marketers and major stakeholder like the NNPCL and the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals.

“NNPC must prioritise national interest in its operations, even though it is a limited company,” Oyarinu said  “To avoid becoming another Venezuela, we need a clear national policy that anything we can produce locally should never be replaced by foreign imports. At present, the dollar is exchanging for over N1,700, with projections it could reach N2,000. NNPC must avoid putting further strain on the Naira.”

Dr. Oyarinu also raised concerns about declining demand for Nigerian crude from foreign buyers, which has led to insufficient dollar earnings. “We must reduce the pressure on the Naira and work towards earning more dollars,” he stressed. “It must be a national policy to refrain from importing products that can be produced locally.”

The Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) has also voiced concerns, stating that continued importation of refined products violates the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which mandates that import licences should not be issued for products that can be refined domestically.

The concerns raised by both CORAN and Dr. Oyarinu came in the wake of what a member of CORAN referred to as a desperate attempt by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Engr. Mele Kyari, to mislead Nigerians by claiming that the NNPCL had stopped importing refined petroleum products and was instead sourcing fuel from local refineries, including the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

The CORAN member, who pleaded anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, maintained that Engr. Kyari was economical with the truth.

Kyari made the declaration on Monday during the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) conference, where he asserted that the shift away from imports would help stabilise the Naira by reducing pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange market. This is because fuel imports have accounted for approximately 40% of the country’s foreign exchange demand.

Despite being an oil-producing nation, Nigeria has spent an estimated N24 trillion annually on importing refined petroleum products, excluding aviation fuel, kerosene, and gas. Kyari further argued that by controlling the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)—Nigeria’s highest-value import—the country could eliminate speculation around the Naira’s exchange rate.

“What it will do to our country is that the biggest source of FX pressure in our country is the import of PMS,” Kyari had declared, “It’s the highest value. That means if you can take that under control, it means that speculation around the naira to the extent of those FX that is required for domestic product supply will be eliminated. That means speculation will go, you would have controlled inflation, and you would have controlled the FX pressure because you would have settled the exchange rate for 50 per cent of your imports. This is a very great initiative. I should commend the President for bringing this initiative.”

But contrary to Kyari’s claims, the CORAN member said reports and documents analysed revealed that the NNPCL is still actively importing petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel. This is despite the fact that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other modular refineries have the capacity to meet Nigeria’s total petroleum needs, with surplus capacity available for export.

According to the CORAN member, From October 1 to November 11, the NNPCL and oil marketers imported over 2 billion litres of petrol, 500 million litres of diesel, and 17 million litres of jet fuel, with a cumulative cost nearing N3 trillion. The NNPCL alone was responsible for about one billion litres of PMS, over 103 million litres of diesel, and 16 million litres of aviation fuel, totalling over N1.1 trillion.

Additionally, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has granted licences for the importation of another 2.5 million metric tonnes (approximately 3.35 billion litres) of PMS between now and December.

This situation, the CORAN member argued, corroborates recent revelations made by Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, who exposed the conspiracy involving oil cabals and international oil companies (IOCs) to undermine the operations of private refineries like the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. During the November 2024 Abuja Special Holy Ghost Service, Adeboye called on Nigerians to pray for divine intervention against these forces, which he claimed were working to block the efforts of private refineries.

Pastor Adeboye had said: “Are we under a curse? We have four refineries, we poured all kinds of money into them, none of them is working. But God raised someone to build a refinery that works. He is not my relative; he is not from my village. He is not even a Christian, but he is a Nigerian who says, ‘Why should my people suffer when I have the means to build a refinery that can work?’ Now he is refining petrol, and some people want to stop him from selling it, so they can keep importing.”