THE presidency has affirmed that President Bola Tinubu will not intervene in the ongoing fuel price controversy between Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed this to journalists at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday, emphasising that both entities operate independently in a deregulated market.
The presidential aide: “The PMS field, the PMS regime, has been deregulated. Dangote is a private company. NNPC should not forget is a limited liability company.
“Whatever controversy both of them are having is their own problem. They are operating, even if you go by the by the terms of Petroleum Industry Act.
“NNPC is on its own, even though it’s owned by the Federal Government, the state government and local councils and everything, but it’s operating as a limited liability company.
According to Onanuga, instead of intervening, the government plans to promote alternative energy solutions like Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), offering a cheaper option for consumers and subsidising conversion costs for vehicles.
Furthermore, Onanuga pointed out that the administration is encouraging states to develop urban transportation systems to reduce overall transportation costs.
He stated: “In addition, the government is going to encourage many of our states to go into bank transportation so they can help to make sure that they reduce the cost of transportation in many of our cities. As of now in the entire country, only Lagos, state has an urban transport system.
“Any modern city should have an urban transport system, a bus system, or racist and so on and so forth.
So that’s the government, the plan of government to make sure that we shift our attention from just one consumer payments, there must be an alternative energy that we can also use which is cheaper, and CNG has proven to be that.
“And the government also has a plan to make sure that even private car owners can convert to CNG at a reduced cost.
“For transporters, is almost free for them, but for private vehicle owners, the government has a plan to subsidise, I mean, the cost of converting the
from petrol to CNG.”
Meanwhile, Presidency has confirmed that President Tinubu will soon reshuffle his cabinet.
The cabinet was constituted in August of last year.
Onanuga explained that when the reshuffling is done, it will be performance evidence-based.
President Tinubu has Meanwhile instructed his ministers to actively promote the accomplishments of his administration.
The presidential aide said: “I don’t have any timeline.
The President has expressed his desire to reshuffle his cabinet and he will do it. I don’t know whether he’s going to do it before October 1, but he will surely do it. So that’s what I will say. He has not given us any timeline he’ll do it, but he will to do it.
He has expressed his plan he wants to do it.”
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital Media, O’tega Ogra, explained the president will be guided by an empirical process being coordinated by Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination and head of the Central Delivery Coordination Unit, Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman.
He added: “We also need to realise that the President’s decision to reshuffle is also based on empirical evidence. He has said it during the retreat for the ministers that they were going to have
periodic reviews, and the decisions that are extracted from these reviews will be used to make that final decision.
Meanwhile, Presidency said the Education Trust Fund
(TETFUND) will allocate 30% of its resources to support the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) for student loans.
Onanuga, who spoke on the Economic Stabilisation Bill, added: “The amendment to the TET-FUND Act is crucial for enhancing student access to education.”
“The funds previously used for infrastructure will now support student
loans, ensuring that all children can attend school, regardless of their parents’ financial status,” he noted.
Also speaking, Senior Special Assistant on Digital/New Media, O’tega Ogra, recalled that during the #EndBadGovernance protests, President Tinubu announced that financial recoveries from illegal activities will be allocated to support the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Не stated: “The President assured that funds from illegal activities would
used to bolster NELFUND.
The Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Sonny Echono, highlighted that the 2023
Intervention Budget of N320 billion is fully allocated to beneficiary institutions.
“We are committed to ensuring that these funds are judiciously utilised to impact the common man,” Echono stated.
Onanuga also hinted that President Tinubu is to send an executive bill seeking to amend the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act to the National Assembly.
When passed and signed into law, it will mandate everybody living in Nigeria, including foreigners to be registered and given the National Identity Number (NIN) so that they can be taxed.
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