Eleme Chamber Backs Planned Privatisation Of Refineries

The Eleme Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed its support for the Federal Government’s planned privatisation of the nation’s refineries.

In an interview with The Tide, the pioneer President of the association, Chief Isaac Eeh said the privatisation would ensure optional operations of the refineries for the overall development of the nation’s oil and gas sector.

He said “we support the privatisation as it will engender growth and effectiveness in the oil sector.”

Isaac said “privatisation is good because it allows private competent and skill hands to manage the refineries with the great desires of ensuring efficient, transparent and optional utilisation of resources by the private management.”

He said government allowing the privatisation of the refineries would ensure further better operations of the refineries to produce at maximum capacity.

He said the refineries are presently in a state of comatose with no production for the past 5 months.

He said the nation presently import fuel for the nation’s consumption from different part of the world, thereby reducing the rating of the nation among oil producing countries.

He urged the Federal Government to ensure transparency in the privatisation processes to build the confidence of Nigerians in the privatisation.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government had through the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke on November 18, announced that the nation’s four ailing refineries would be privatised by the first quarter of 2014.

She said the privatization would be part of ongoing oil sector reforms by the Federal Government.

Philip Okparaji