The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has appeared before the joint committee on appropriations with a message: Reactivation of refineries may bring down price of fuel but it is not the chief reason.

On the quantity of petrol consumed daily in Nigeria, he said the country does not have credible data for PMS consumption because of the” absence of the instrument to measure.”

Political Economist NG recalls that the Senate had issued a 24-hour ultimatum on Wednesday to Kyari after an observations that he had in previous occasions, shunned summons by the Senate to appear before its ad-committee probing over 11 trillion naira expenditure on turn around maintenance of refineries in the country between 2010 and 2023.

Kyari who appeared confident as he provided answers to questions from members of the senate committee on appropriations said though the return of refineries may lead to a reduction in price of fuel, but it is not the main objective of the refineries.

He explained that the target is to achieve energy security which could in 2024, make Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products.

Kyari said that no subsidy is charged to the federation, adding that the NNPC has contributed N4.45 trillion  as direct revenue into the federation in a combination of taxes, royalties and dividends and paid N406 billion as dividend to Federal Government’s account from July 2023.

Political Economist NG recalls that the Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, Senator Adeola Olamilekan, had on Wednesday, directed Kyari and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC),to appear before the committee in 24 hours.

They were to present to the committee the list of all companies operating with OML licenses in Nigeria as well as total production output approved on a daily basis.