Stakeholders in the nation’s economy has said the commissioning of Dangote Refinery will spur up competition in the downstream sector.
Speaking with Daily Champion in Lagos, Former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), Dr. Samuel Nzekwe said the refinery will end the issue of fuel scarcity in Nigeria.
Nzekwe described commissioning of the refinery as a good development, also agreed with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele that the Dangote Refinery will save Nigeria $25billion and $30billion forex annually and give the economy an inflow of $10b yearly.
He said, “It is a good development because it is going to solve a lot of problems. Number is that when is starts producing, we will not be talking of scarcity of fuel, either because it is been imported or it is held at the port. That will not occur again because the product is been produced in Nigeria.
Nzekwe added that all the bye products are all gains, stressing that some of them will be exported and Nigeria is going to gain a lot from the refinery.
“I am sure that it is going to be handled efficiently, not what the NNPC is currently doing. This is because it is private sector driven, so it is going to work efficiently and then deliver, so I agree with the CBN governor.
“With the Dangote Refinery coming on stream, you may be surprised that all these moribund refinery will now want to start working, because they know that with this, their employment is been challenged, that is why I am so happy. There is going to be competition in the system.
“It is even going to bring competitiveness in the system, it is going to put NNPC on its toes to start producing. One major thing it has done is that the issues of subsidy is going to die a natural death. The question is, what are we subsiding, are subsidizing inefficiency or direct embezzlement of funds,” he said.
Speaking further, Nzekwe maintained that with the coming of Dangote Refinery, Nigerians will now know what it costs to produce a litre of petroleum product.
“I think with this, even the cost will not be so high because we have eliminated the cost of transporting petroleum products from Nigeria to where it is been refined and then, the cost of bringing it back again, which is double cost,” he said.
It is a very good one and I think, some of those problems we are having regarding fuel, will be solved now.
Also speaking, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Maxifund Investments and Securities Plc, Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu maintained that the Dangote Refinery is a fantastic development.
He said, “No matter whatever the other refineries produce, they cannot compete with this largest refinery in the world.
