By Moses Patience Chat
The Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the last general elections, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to stop the importation of petrol, advising them to leave it to private marketers.
Adebayo said that a regulator who is simultaneously playing with the set of people he is regulating could lead to ‘rigging’ and that “NNPCL must opt out of importation business.
“Don’t rig the market. Allow everybody to bring their product to the marketplace. The Government should not fix the price,” he said.
According to him, the National Food, Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC) doesn’t import drugs. It only regulates. Ministry of Water Resources does not sell water, it only regulates how the players should act.
Adebayo, who also faulted the government for concessioning public property to individuals, added that such action breeds corruption and laziness and that “they should stop concessioning government assets to private people.
When the late Chief Raymond Dokpesi founded AIT, he didn’t take over NTA. He only bought a license to create AIT. When Igbinedion University was created, why didn’t they concession the University of Benin to Chief Igbinedion?
“I don’t believe we should be concessioning government property to anyone. President Obasanjo said the Port Harcourt Refinery should be given to Aliko Dangote to run, but Yar’Adua said no. Now it has paid off for Dangote as he now has his own refinery, and yet the Port Harcourt refinery is still intact.
Chances are that if he had been given the Port Harcourt refinery, he wouldn’t have created the Dangote refinery today”, he said.
He commended the past administration’s contributions to the power sector while advising the new one to make sure that all Discos don’t just collect money without providing electricity.
“Nigeria is a rich country. There is enough money to take care of all of us. There is no doubt about that. The resources are there, and it is now left for the government, if they are efficient, whether they want to collect all their revenues.
“So, if they focus on not using government resources to dispense favours, if they focus on revenue to use it for the public good, If they focus on efficiency in procuring management, they will succeed,” Adebayo maintained.