By Abiola Olawale
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, had a high-level meeting on Monday with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, and other prominent stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.
The meeting, which was also attended by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr Zacch Adedeji, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Lydia Jafiya, was convened to devise strategies to execute President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the NNPCL to transact the sale of crude oil to local refineries in naira.
It would be recalled that following a dispute involving high-ranking officials of the NNPCL and Nigerian business magnate and Chairman of Dangote Industries, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Tinubu had instructed the NNPCL to initiate the sale of crude to Dangote Refinery, using the Naira currency.
Following the directive, the Minister of Finance convened a meeting which was held in Abuja on Monday.
This was disclosed in a post on the official X page of the Finance Ministry.
The ministry in the post said during the meeting the stakeholders discussed ways to strengthen the domestic economy and support the sustainable operations of local refineries, including the Dangote Refinery.
The post reads: “On Monday, the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, led a key meeting aimed at implementing President Tinubu’s directive for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited to sell crude oil to local refineries in Naira,” the post read.
“This initiative is intended to strengthen the domestic economy and support the sustainable operations of local refineries, including the Dangote Refinery.
“The meeting brought together important stakeholders, including Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Lydia Jafiya, and other notable participants.”
During the in-depth discussions, the Finance Minister and coordinating minister for the Economy expressed strong confidence in the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to achieve the President’s directive’s objectives.
