By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
Main actors of Nigeria’s economy held a critical meeting with the Finance Committee of the National Assembly on Monday and declared that the ailing nation’s ailing economy was getting revitalised based on emerging indicators.
Those in attendance were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun; Budget and National Planning Minister, Senator Atiku Bagudu and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri.
They also included the Group Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari; the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Yemi Cardoso and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, among others.
The Group Executive officer of NNPCL informed the committee led by Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger East) that based on emerging indicators in the Energy and Gas sector, Nigeria will be a net exporter of petroleum by December this year.
The indicators according to him, are that the Port Harcourt refinery would start production early next month, which will be followed by the one in Warri months after, and the Kaduna refinery latest by December this year.
He added that in a few months, the oil production level for the country will hit two million barrels per day as all enablement towards that has already been put in place.
Kyari said, “Mr. Chairman and members of the Joint Committee. Let me just confirm that NNPCL and the oil and gas industry are very critical in bringing a turnaround in our current economic situation, and we understand the importance of this. We are taking every step that is practical for us to achieve this.
“We have already seen growth in our oil and gas production because of certain actions that Mr. President personally took, and also the very mere truth that we have also declared war on production activities, and this is yielding the required results.
“The combination of these two has now seen us restoring production in our country, and we believe that, as the Honourable Minister has said, we will soon hit the target of two million barrels of oil production per day.
“I’m aware that there are several comments in the public space around refining business and domestic production, including production that will come from the commissioned Dangote refinery. Yes, this country, as we have said, will be a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year.
“We’re very optimistic that by December, this country will be a net exporter. That means a combination of production coming from us, and also from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals and other smaller producing companies that we know are in line to do this.
“So I can confirm to you, Mr Chairman, that by the end of the year, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products. Specific to the NNPC refinery, we have spoken to a number of your committees that it is impossible to have the Kaduna refinery come into operation before December, it will get to December.
“Both Warri and Kaduna but that of Port Harcourt, will commence production early August this year,” he said.
In his presentation the CBN Governor represented by Deputy Governor (Economic Policy), Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, said the triple challenges of rising inflation, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, and food inflation, and would take downward trend soonest as indicators to that effect are already emerging.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said the 2024 budget was already being implemented and that there was an ongoing negotiation with Labour Leaders on Minimum wage to ensure that there are no further disruptions to the economy.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sani Musa appealed to Nigerians to persevere as the government is working around the clock to stabilise the economy.
Musa said, “Our critical interactive session with you as managers of the economy, is about economic growth. It’s about how we can get our policies to work. How we will support Nigerians.
“The National Assembly is very concerned because we are the representatives of the people. And we are obliged to ask what is happening. And this is the reason for the meeting.
“And we have heard from you, at least you have given us the preambles of the activities going on. On how our economy can get back on track.
“You are all aware of the obstructions our economy has had in the previous years. And it’s not going to be easy that overnight, in 365 days or in one year of the coming administration, things will change. It will be gradual.
“I believe that Nigerians will persevere. This is the only time we can all come together as Nigerians to give His Excellency the President, all the needed support. To get us out of all the trouble we have been.
“The indicators are showing that the economy is doing well. The only thing is that things are a bit difficult because it’s not easy for inflation that has gone up to go down like that. It takes time,” he said.
