Oil Marketer Union Leader Blames Corruption For Abuse of Subsidy Segime

Mr Adewumi Ilori, Chief
Executive Officer of Metib Oil and Gas Ltd., has blamed corruption for the
abuse of the petrol subsidy regime.

“The question
is not whether to totally remove subsidy or sustain the current N97 pump price
of petrol.

“The real
issue is about tackling corruption in the oil and gas sector, “ he told the
news Lagos.

Ilori said
that the no subsidy regime would be worthwhile if corruption in the oil sector
was not properly addressed.

He advised
government to make sure that those indicated by the probe panels in the oil
sector were made to face the law no matter their status in society.

“Our
government should also study the recommendations of those probe panels to guide
it in its subsidy policy.

“It is
important to consider the hardship that total removal of fuel subsidy will
bring to the people and the accompanying inflation and high cost of living,” he
said.

Ilori,
however, said that he was not averse to total removal of fuel subsidy.

He said that
relying almost completely on importation of petrol would continue to impoverish
Nigerians.

Ilori advised
the Federal Government to make sure that the four refineries were in their maximum
production capacity before embarking on full deregulation of the oil industry.

“We must not lose sight of the need to have palliative
measures in place before asking Nigerians to buy petrol above the current N97,“
he said.