The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said the party supported President Buhari’s importation of crude oil from the Republic of Niger for refining at the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) because of the level of disruptions in supply from the oil facilities in the South.
The APC chairman spoke on Wednesday during a courtesy visit by the Niger’s Minister of Petroleum, Foumakoye Gado and the country’s Ambassador, Mansour Maman Hadj Daddo at the APC national secretariat in Abuja.
He observed that the initiative “is already bearing fruit. For us it will make great economic sense for the refinery in Kaduna to function properly.
“Moreso, in the face of disruptions we have in the southern parts of our country. It is a major economic advantage for that project to be expedited and come to fruition as soon as possible.
“At the Party level, we assure you that everything will be done to ensure that those who are involved expedite the discussion and agreement so that the plan can be made operational as soon as possible,” he said.
Also speaking, the Nigerien petroleum minister, said: “We acknowledge the cordial relationship between the President of Republic of Niger and Nigeria hence the need for us to come to the Party to strengthen the relationship. We believe this should be replicated at Party level.”
“It is line with this understanding that the two leaders (Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerien President, Mahamadou Issoufou) agreed to channel crude oil from Republic of Niger to the Kaduna refinery for refining.
“We have had discussion with the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Maikanti Baru, to facilitate the plan.
“The project is unprecedented because in Africa we are used to exporting crude oil instead of refining it within the continent. This is the first time two countries are coming together for this sort of bilateral crude-refining arrangement,” he said.