The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee Taiwo Oyedele says the country has spent over N10 trillion on its refineries without anything to show for it.
He said this while featuring at the Platform, a symposium by The Covenant Nation, Lagos State.
“The National Assembly said we have spent over N10 trillion maintaining our refineries even when they have not produced anything,” he said.
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“If Nigerian refineries process crude oil unless we deal with our inefficiency, one litre of petrol would be the most expensive in the world. You would have succeeded in replacing the subsidy at the pump with the subsidy for the refineries.”
“Nigerians would say if only our refineries were working, then we will be fine. Nothing can be farther from the truth than that,” the fiscal policy partner and Africa tax leader at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said.
“In fact, Nigerians should come together and say please make sure that our refineries do not work. We should sell them.”
He also urged those leaving the country to wish Nigerians well but noted that he is not against migration.
“There is nothing wrong in leaving. Don’t get me wrong. But if you leave, don’t wish the rest of us bad,” he said.
“And while you are here and continue to be here, don’t wish us evil. If you have citizens who are actively working against their own country, there is no amount of prayers you will pray, that country will not succeed.”
“Even if you are planning to leave, just remember, there are 95 per cent of us who cannot go anywhere,” Oyedele maintained.
While noting the importance of patriotism, he said no foreigner can develop Nigeria.
“All the countries that were developed were developed by their people,” he added.
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