Ijaw group urges govt to stop fuel importation

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, on Saturday called for an end to oil importation, urging the federal government to take practical measures to curtail importation of petroleum products into the country.

The Ijaw youths said it was disheartening that the government spent a whooping N19trillion on the importation of refined petroleum products into the country.

The group said the Federal Government had been committing economic blunder considering the capital flight and sum of money involved in the transactions which were heartbreaking.

The IYC in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Alfred Kemepado, said the body wept after reading the revelation contained in a publication of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

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Kemepado said the publication disclosed that the federal government spent about $54.6bn that is N19trn, importing refined petroleum products into the country.

He said the Niger Delta was the biggest loser in the transactions following failures by the government to set up modular refineries in the region.

Kemepado said if the federal government had lived up to its promise of setting up modular refineries, it would have helped to retain the money in the economy of the Niger Delta and the country.

The activist expressed his displeasure over what he described as the financial recklessness of the federal government, adding that the lost money would have created many jobs and repositioned the battered economy.

He said it smacked of insincerity on the part of the government to continue to play politics with key decisions required to grow and develop the Niger Delta and the country.

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