Vunderkind
Social Member
Mrs Nkechi Obi, the Executive Vice Chairman, Techno Oil Ltd., on Monday called on the Federal Government to remove subsidy on kerosene importation.
Obi, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the removal of the subsidy would enable the government to channel the saved funds to develop the infrastructure.
She alleged that marketers were making more money, while a lot of financial resources were going down the drains.
Obi said that kerosene could only be purchased at subsidised rate at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s mega stations, while some marketers were selling as high as N150 per litre.
The company vice chairman advised government to promote the usage of gas reserves by educating and encouraging Nigerians on the need to use cooking gas.
``Nigeria reserves 840,400 metric tonnes for domestic purpose annually, but only 250,000 metric tonnes is being consumed annually.
``It is very unfortunate that while the percentage of Nigerians consuming gas in Nigeria is five per cent, the percentage of kerosene consumption is about 27 per cent,’’she said.
Obi said that the money saved on the removal of the subsidy could be used to produce cylinders in large quantities to make gas available as a substitute to kerosene.
The vice chairman urged State and Federal Governments to support operators in the private sector to build more gas distribution plants.
She also advised government to reduce the import tariff on gas and cylinders in order to improve gas consumption.
Obi, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the removal of the subsidy would enable the government to channel the saved funds to develop the infrastructure.
She alleged that marketers were making more money, while a lot of financial resources were going down the drains.
Obi said that kerosene could only be purchased at subsidised rate at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s mega stations, while some marketers were selling as high as N150 per litre.
The company vice chairman advised government to promote the usage of gas reserves by educating and encouraging Nigerians on the need to use cooking gas.
``Nigeria reserves 840,400 metric tonnes for domestic purpose annually, but only 250,000 metric tonnes is being consumed annually.
``It is very unfortunate that while the percentage of Nigerians consuming gas in Nigeria is five per cent, the percentage of kerosene consumption is about 27 per cent,’’she said.
Obi said that the money saved on the removal of the subsidy could be used to produce cylinders in large quantities to make gas available as a substitute to kerosene.
The vice chairman urged State and Federal Governments to support operators in the private sector to build more gas distribution plants.
She also advised government to reduce the import tariff on gas and cylinders in order to improve gas consumption.
