The inauguration of the Dangote Refinery on Monday has confirmed that business persons do best in business.
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar tweeted this on his Twitter handle page on Tuesday.
The former Vice President said the coming of the Dangote Refinery was timely, adding that it came at a time when govt-owned refineries have remained moribund for years.
He said “it (the refinery) again confirms the stance I have taken over the years that business persons best do business while governments maintain their role in providing an enabling environment and as a regulator to harness the benefits for the good of all citizens.”
Atiku noted that the refinery would provide benefits in terms of jobs, fuel supply and availability, foreign exchange earnings and savings, and tax revenue immensely.
He congratulated Nigerians, saying “I celebrate the vision, foresight and determination of Alhaji Aliko Dangote, @AlikoDangote, and the @DangoteGroup on the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery.
“Our country must look more towards the private sector as partners in nation-building for the growth of our country, and in this regard, Aliko Dangote has distinguished himself remarkably.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday commissioned the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery cited at the Lekki free zone near Lagos.
The pipeline infrastructure at the refinery is the largest in the world with 1,100 kilometres and will handle 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The inauguration of the refinery comes with high expectations in the Nigerian energy sector amid plans by the Nigerian government to remove the petrol subsidy in the second half of the year. Subsidy payments steadily rose from N351bn in 2005 to N4.39 trillion in 2022, while N3. 6trn was earmarked to fund fuel subsidies for the first six months in 2023.
The government pins its hopes of ending fuel imports largely on the completion of the Dangote Refinery.
