Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has vowed to resign if Nigeria continues to import fuel by 2019. He made this statement on Monday, during an interview on BBC World Service programme, HardTalk, hosted by Stephen Sackur.
Mr. Kachikwu promised to see to it that the refineries were completed to ensure that there is a future for oil in Nigeria.
He also stated during the interview that the government plans to diversify into agriculture, tourism, and other sources of revenue to solve the problem of over-dependence on oil. Mr. Kachikwu declared that 2019 has been set as the target for Nigeria to become self-sufficient in refining petroleum and put an end to its import.
He said: “2019 is the target time… I target 2019. If I don’t achieve it, I will walk…I put the date and I will achieve it."
Note that the present administration's tenure will end in May 2019, and except they are re-elected, it is unclear how Kachikwu's deadline of 2019 is going to matter. Kachikwu went on to state that he has delivered on all his promises so far.
“I have delivered on all that I have promised when I came into office. First, I took Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and made it a profit- making organization. This is the first time such is happening. I reshaped the organization. I removed cash call deficits of over $ 6 billion and renegotiated it. I will deliver on the refineries and I’m committed to it. I will deliver a future for oil that makes sense for Nigeria. I can ’t pretend that we’re going to solve in one day all the problems that happened in Nigeria in the past."
Kachikwu also answered a question regarding the state of President Muhammadu Buhari's health and stated that he did not know all the details.
“He is in London; he’s undergoing hospital treatment. I don’t know the details of that. I obviously wouldn’t know. But…he’s back in London, he ’s continued some levels of meetings.
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