BY LAIDE AKINBOADE
ABUJA—Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, yesterday, urged Nigerians to disregard call for mass protest over Federal Government’s deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry in the country.

In a statement by Mr. Joe Mutah, the minister said the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry was not aimed at causing hardship on Nigerians but opening up the sector for growth and investment.

He said:  “Disregard those calling for mass protest over the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry. The aim of the policy is to transfer subsidy from consumption to production.

“With the take off of the deregulation policy, there might be initial hike in the price of fuel but government is taking measures to check the trend through the active participation of NNPC in the sale of fuel to guard against profiteering.”

He said the Federal Government had entered into partnership with the original builders of the nation’s existing refineries to turn them around for production at installed capacity between 18 and  24 months.

“Three new refineries would be built in Lagos, Kogi and Bayelsa States by the private sector with government equity participation to refine 400 barrels of crude per day.

“The minister gave assurance that in the next two years, all the petroleum products consumed in the country would be produced locally” .

Maku expressed worries that price control of petrol had stifled the growth of the downstream sector and prevented private sector investment in the refining of petroleum products.

According to him,  “private investors would now seize the opportunity to establish refineries that will compete in production to bring down the price of petrol in no distant future and create more job opportunities for Nigerians.

“For development to take place in the country, decisive measures have to be taken in order to correct the wrong policies of the past.”

He cited the implementation of deregulation in Ghana’s oil sector which he described as a proactive measure to start oil exploration and refining on sound policies.

He assured Nigerians that funds that will accrue from deregulation would not form part of the regular budget but would be managed by credible Nigerians from diverse interest groups and would apply the resources to projects that have direct bearing on the common-man.

The Minister said part of the subsidy reinvestment programme was the restoration of the railways across the country to provide alternative and affordable means of transportation of goods and services, adding that government would provide interest-free loans to transporters to buy buses that would shuttle Nigerians at subsidized cost in order to ameliorate the high cost of transportation.

He added that government would use the funds to construct the Mambila Hydro-electricity Project to generate 2,400 Megawatts of electricity, support irrigation, particularly the production of  400,000 metric tonnes of rice annually, maternal health, infrastructure development and rural and urban water supply among others.

Maku enjoined Nigerians to hold the present administration by its promise to deliver on all the projects.

He called for patience and sacrifice from Nigerians for the growth of the economy and posterity.