Stakeholders in Nigeria’s economy declared in Abuja on Monday that the ailing economy is showing signs of revitalization based on emerging indicators.
Assurances on the economy’s recovery were made during an interactive session held by the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on Finance with ministers Wale Edun (Finance), Atiku Bagudu (Budget and National Planning), and Heineken Lokpobiri (Petroleum), the Group Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso.
In his presentation, Kyari informed the committee, led by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), that based on emerging indicators in the energy and gas sector, Nigeria will be a net exporter of petroleum by December this year. He cited the Port Harcourt refinery, which will start production early next month, followed by the refinery in Warri, and the Kaduna refinery by December.
He added that in a few months, Nigeria’s oil production level will hit two million barrels per day, as all necessary measures have been implemented.
“Mr. Chairman and members of the Joint Committee, let me confirm that NNPCL and the oil and gas industry are very critical in turning around our current economic situation. We understand the importance of this and are taking every practical step to achieve this.
“We have already seen growth in our oil and gas production due to actions taken by Mr. President and our declared war on production activities, which is yielding the required results. We believe that we will soon hit the target of two million barrels of oil production per day.
“There are several comments in the public space around refining business and domestic production, including production from the commissioned Dangote refinery. This country will be a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year. We are very optimistic that by December, Nigeria will be a net exporter due to production from us, the Dangote refinery, and other smaller producing companies.
“So I can confirm to you, Mr. Chairman, that by the end of the year, Nigeria will be a net exporter of petroleum products.
“Regarding the NNPC refinery, it is impossible to have the Kaduna refinery operational before December; it will get there in December—both Warri and Kaduna—but the Port Harcourt refinery will commence production early in August this year,” he said.
The CBN governor, represented by Deputy Governor (Economic Policy) Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, said the triple challenges of rising inflation, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, and food inflation will take a downward trend soon, as indicators to that effect are already emerging.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, stated that the 2024 budget is already being implemented and ongoing negotiations with labor leaders on the minimum wage aim to prevent further economic disruptions.
Senator Sani Musa, the committee chairman, appealed to Nigerians to persevere as the government works to stabilize the economy.
“Our critical interactive session with you as managers of the economy is about economic growth. It’s about how we can get our policies to work and support Nigerians. The National Assembly is very concerned because we represent the people. We are obliged to ask what is happening. And this is the reason for the meeting,” he said.
“And we have heard from you. At least you have given us preambles of the activities going on and how our economy can get back on track. You are all aware of the challenges our economy has faced in previous years. It’s not going to be easy for things to change overnight. It will be gradual.
“I believe that Nigerians will persevere. This is the time for us to come together and support the President to get us out of the trouble we have been in. The indicators show that the economy is doing well. The only issue is that inflation takes time to decrease,” he concluded.
