The Federal Executive Council presided over by Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday, approved the Nigerian Petroleum Policy,
which is aimed at improving efficiency in the oil industry.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu,
disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the council’s
meeting inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The approval of the policy, he said, was coming about three
weeks after the National Gas Policy was considered and approved.
The minister said if well executed, the document would
fundamentally take the change process in the oil and gas industry that started
in 2015 to its logical conclusion in the next couple of years.
Kachikwu stated, “Today’s policy focused on oil and the
imperative needed to change the policy in the oil sector. It dealt with certain
fundamentals; we are already pursuing some of the policy. We are working
assiduously to exit the importation of fuel in 2019 and capture the cash call
change we have done, which enables the sector to fund itself through
incremental volumes.
“It captures the reorganisation in the NNPC for efficiency
and enables accountability. It captures the issues in the Niger Delta and what
we need to do as a government to focus on stability and consistency in the
sector.
“It is a very comprehensive 100-page document that deals
with all aspects in the industry. The last time this was done was in 2007 and
it has been 10 years and you are aware that the dynamics of the oil industry
has changed dramatically.”
The minister added, “Apart from the fact of fluidity in
pricing and uncertainty in terms of the price regime in crude, we are pushing
for a refining processing environment and move away from exporting as it were
to refining petroleum products. That is one change you will see.
“Secondly, how we sell our crude is going to be looked at.
There is a lot of geographical market we need to look at long-term contracting
and sales as opposed to the systemic contracting we have been doing.”
According to him, as part of efforts to end fuel importation
by 2019, he currently chairs a steering committee, while there is a technical
committee team already set up and headed by the Chief Operating Officer of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The minister explained that series of meetings had been held
with individuals who were willing to invest in the refineries.
He added, “I need to state this clearly that this is not a
sale, this is not a concession, this is a financing scheme and there are over
30 people who have indicated interest in that financing. They are going to go
through the usual due process mechanism to see who qualifies for that
financing.
“What we have resolved, however, which we have at least an
understanding, is that each of the refineries will be repaired by the
individual companies that built the refineries.”
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the
council received the National Employment Policy to replace the one that had
been in use since 2002.
He said the policy was reviewed in 2013 with technical
assistance from the International Labour Organisation and major stakeholders
like employers and workers’ unions.
On the issue of the new minimum wage, the minister said the
government had approved a secretariat domiciled at the National Council for
Salaries and Wages Commission.
He said, “We have the Minister of Labour and Employment as
the deputy chairman, the Minister of Finance, and Minister of Budget and
National Planning as members. The only appointee, which is being awaited now,
is the chairman; and we have concluded the process for the nomination. We are
waiting for the requisite approval.
“The labour centres, that is the NLC and TUC, have yet to
bring their nominations. That is on the workers’ side. On the employers’ side,
you know we have like sub-units. We have the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative
Assembly, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce,
Industries, Mines and Agriculture, and the Small and Medium-scale Industry
Association.
“These groups will give us nominations. So, we are waiting.
Once these nominations are in place, the President will now inaugurate the
committee.”
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning,
Zainab Ahmed, said the ministry presented the National Social Protection Policy
to the council.
According to her, the policy is a framework that seeks to
provide social justice, equity and inclusive growth, using a transformative
mechanism for mitigating poverty and unemployment in Nigeria.
0 comments:
Post a Comment