…Assures of Sector’s Development
By Patience Chat Moses
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Downstream Sector of the countries oil and gas sector, Senator Kawu Sumaila, has called on all players in the nations oil and gas sector to join forces and enhance development of the downstream sector.
Sumailu was speaking to Valuechain in an exclusive interview at the sidelines of the just concluded African Energy Week (AEW) in Cape Town,South Africa .
The Senator who was recently appointed noted that as a leading producer of energy in Africa’s energy landscape, there is a need for players to put all hands on deck to eliminate and mitigate the many challenges facing the country.
He assured of the legislative as well as the executives effort to ensure this bottlenecks are reduced and removed in the long run.
“We will work together with various companies either international and local companies. We are all here putting our heads together to find a permanent solution to the energy challenge in Nigeria, he said.
Senator Sumaila highlighted the importance of taking our place among global players in the energy sector.
This he said can be achieved if strategic steps are taken to encourage certain changes in the country adding that with the commitment from stakeholders, the ground will be set running.
Giving remarks on regulatory frameworks that will encourage ease of doing business, Senator Sumaila noted since his recent appointment, a ad-hoc committee has been set up to focus on government-owned refinery to come up with strategies of reviving them.
He revealed that the committee is set to embark on a tour around this refineries to see the level of implementation of contracts signed by the last administration by the current one.
A stakeholders and public hearing will be organized according to him, with the aim of confronting the challenges facing the downstream sectors, which he stated to include price, private sectors like Dangote and the remaining modular refineries which are coming off.
“We want to put our heads together as political leaders to hear from the stakeholders what can be done by us at our end.
“We are ready and we are very open to collect and receive any input to make the oil sector great again he added.
On the Dangote refinery, the senator indicated that it is important for Government Agencies and the private sectors work together and in line with the mission and ambition of the current administration.
He explained that the upcoming stakeholders forum will serve as a platform where discussions on issues posing as obstacles to the sector will be made to fix the the oil sector amidst the constant complaint from marketers, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Nigerians as a whole.
“The best way to do it is to put them under one rule to discuss and come up with an agreeable position which everybody will follow that frequency to the end so that Nigerians will begin to appreciate the benefit from the oil sector.