Buhari Government Has Failed In Nigerian Oil And Gas Sector, It Should Get Out – Governor El-Rufai

 

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Thursday said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration failed and should get out of the oil and gas business.

 

 El-Rufai who asserted that the government fumbled in the sector, said Nigeria was living on taxes, royalties and income taxes.

He ascertained that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was a big problem to Nigeria, noting that it would bring Nigeria to its knees unless it was resolved,

The governor made this disclosure while speaking at KADINVEST, an annual event organised by the Kaduna State Investment Promotion Agency, on Thursday.

He noted that the sectors doing well in the country were entertainment, telecoms, fintech and others that had no government’s involvement.

He affirmed that nothing had changed with the commercialisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company in July 2022, noting that though the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, was trying his best; the company had failed and had no business being in the sector.

He said, “There is no reason why the Nigerian government should still be in the oil and gas sector. It should just get out, it has failed. By every measure it has failed.

“We are living on taxes. It is PPT, royalties and income tax that are keeping this country going because NNPC claims that subsidy has taken all the oil revenues, I don’t believe that. So, the government should sell everything —the oil and gas sector. I have been making this point since 1999 when I was head of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). I have not changed my mind.

“The government should get out of whatever is left of electricity. Leave it to the private sector. Maintain the environment. The money will come. Nothing has changed for NNPC other than adding L to it for the limited. They are still taking our money. They are still declaring profits that we don’t see the dividends.

“NNPC is a big problem to Nigeria and unless we resolve it, it will bring Nigeria to its knees. It’s a systemic and institutional problem, it’s beyond one person.”

 

Update: Photos, Governor El-Rufai Visits Victims Of Abuja-Kaduna Train Attack

 

The governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Tuesday, visited some of the victims of the terror attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train.

He visited the victims who were receiving treatment at the 44 Military Hospital and St. Gerald Hospital.

Governor El-Rufai Mocks Buhari’s Twitter Ban, Says He’s Tweeting From Abroad

Governor El-Rufia of Kaduna state has mocked president Buhari over twitter Ban in the country.

This is coming months after the governor left twitter after the micro-blogging site was Ban by the president Buhari-led administration

Mr El-Rufai, like many of the regime’s faithful, had studiously stayed away from the social media platform which had largely served as his choice medium for public engagement after the federal government shutdown of the site on June 5.

But Mr El-Rufai shockingly tweeted a response to an admirer’s flattering adulation on Wednesday, in contravention of the ban on Twitter. He then quickly dispatched suggestions that he had circumvented the government’s restraint when a user confronted with allegations that he had tweeted via a virtual private network, VPN, which many Nigerians had been deploying to beat the ban.

“VPN? Nope……outside Nigeria for a couple of days, so can tweet for the time being….@dexxybaba,” Mr El-Rufai tweeted in response.

The governor’s response appears to mock the effectiveness of Twitter ban in Nigeria as notable Nigerians, especially corporate, religious and even associates of the government often come under the excuse of tweeting outside Nigeria’s territory to continue using the banned platform in defiance to the regime’s directive.

Mr El-Rufai’s tweet promptly drew public criticism from Nigerians who believe that the governor, an ardent supporter of the Buhari regime should comply totally with the Twitter ban.

But Mr El-Rufai rebuffed the criticisms, arguing that the ban on Twitter doesn’t affect freedom of speech, and that conflating Twitter with freedom of expression was a significant exaggeration.

The Kaduna state governor joins a host of other prominent Nigerian’s flouting the twitter ban on the excuse that they are tweeting outside Nigeria.

However, Nigeria’s Minister of Information Lai Mohammed said the Mr Malami would ensure that Nigerians who accessed Twitter, including Pastor Adeboye, after the federal government proclaimed a ban on it would be prosecuted.

Governor El- Rufai Finally Reveals Why He Withdrew His Son From Public School

Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai, has explained that he withdrew his son from public school to protect other children from possible attacks by kidnappers.