The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum downstream, Dr. Abdullahi Gaya, has described the current situation in the global oil markets as a pointer to the fact that it is wrong for Nigeria to keep depending on oil in financing its budgets for national development.
The lawmaker, who expressed this view in a chat with journalists in Kano, pointed out that latest economic indicators had shown that there is a need for Nigeria to intensify its economic diversification drive by exploring opportunities in the non-oil sector for revenue generation and national development in the years ahead.
He said: “With the current price of crude oil in the international market, there is no way the budget can be funded based on the projections that were made based on the benchmark as at the time.
“So, we have to do something about the budget. We need to quickly think of how to diversify the economy. We have been relying on oil for decades and it is from expectations from oil proceeds that we always fund our budget. Revenue from other sources are rarely a part of our budgetary projections.
“We keep talking about alternative sources of income but we have not really been serious with it. Look at agriculture. I agree that we are making some gains in that area, but it is grossly inadequate for us as a nation. We need to step up our game in that area”, Hon. Gaya added.
The lawmaker further revealed that, it is part of his committee’s desire to see that Nigeria’s three refineries are fixed and returned to full operational capacity, adding that the Committee has visited Warri and Port Harcourt refineries in furtherance of its over sight function to assess the impact of the $396.33 million spent on the turnaround maintenance of the refineries.
He explained: “The refineries do not need any turn around again, it was also discovered that since 2004, they have not done any maintenance of the refineries, and as it is now, what we need now is a total rehabilitation, and we are worried that despite government’s investments, the three refineries have been abandoned.”
