‘Ministers Must Stick To President Buhari’s Change Agenda’

‘Ministers Must Stick To President Buhari’s Change Agenda’

‘Ministers Must Stick To President Buhari’s Change Agenda’

Mr Felix Ayanruoh an energy consultant
and managing partner of a US-based Wall
Street firm in this interview with SAMSON
EZEA tasks the new ministers on service
delivery in various sectors of the economy.
What is your advice to the new ministers
following their recent inauguration?
As the new ministers look to the
herculean tasks ahead of them, so many
of us would love to attempt to tell the
ministers how to run their respective
ministries. This should not be the time
for sycophancy or paid congratulatory
advertisement but a shift from a sickness
to a wellness orientation.
All efforts should be on how to move the
country forward. Their focus should be
on key policy areas: the economy and
jobs, transparency, meritocracy, best
governance practices among others.
The ministers need to stick to the change
agenda of the president. This is the time
to bargain hard. The ministers should set
a short-term benchmark spending
targets. These targets should be removed
as the economy improves, this should not
be seen as a realistic worry. It’s true that
in the very long run if the government
were to become politically dysfunctional
and not able to do anything about the
economic woes we are experiencing
now, the change agenda would be seen
as a mere slogan.
It is common knowledge that petroleum
is the mainstay of our economy. The
focus of the minister of state who will be
running the ministry on behalf of the
president (Minister of Petroleum) is to
eradicate the monumental rot inflicted
on the sector by successive governments.
The recent report released by the Natural
Resource Governance Institute (NRGI)
exposed the atrocities committed by the
NNPC. It suggested that over $32 billion
oil revenue was stolen as a result of
fuzzy financial practices made by the
past minister and NNPC’s
mismanagement of Domestic Crude
Allocation (DCA), opaque revenue
retention practices and corruption-
ridden oil-for-product swap agreements.
The minister as the Group Managing
Director of the Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the
past few months carried out some
reforms which can be interpreted as the
right step toward revamping the sector
from its past corrupt and stagnant state.
To effectively carry out meaningful
reforms in the industry, there must be a
robust legal and regulatory framework.
This can only be achieved by passing the
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). The bill is
the key to meaningful hydrocarbon
development of the industry.
In recent times, there has been a dearth
of investment in the industry by both
multinationals and local investors.
The minister on behalf of the
presidential in collaboration with the
National Assembly should work together
for the PIB passage. However, the bill
should be reworked to correct some
issues that are fundamental to the
industry’s development. The areas of
transparency, presidential and
ministerial powers, fiscal provisions
among others issues should be looked
into.
Also, The minister should carry out an
effective campaign of the bill’s
importance to our economy to the
Nigerian people.
I will suggest that if the passage is
difficult, the bill should be divided into 2
bills namely fiscal and non-fiscal. The
fiscal aspect should be included in our
tax laws after extensive discussions with
the international oil companies. The
non-fiscal aspect of the bill should be
passed as a whole bill.
It is imperative to state here that the PIB
when passed, will capitalize the nation’s
vast gas deposits which are currently
and seriously underutilized.
The extraction and utilization of gas will
not only reduce gas flaring and protect
the environment but will also increase
power generation among others. The bill
will deregulate the downstream sector,
which in turn will lead to oil and gas
pipelines privatization.
The private sector brings with it
operational efficiency, innovative
technologies, managerial effectiveness,
access to additional finances,
construction and commercial risk
sharing.
I will state here that as a proponent of
refinery privatization, I will urge the
minister to look critically at the pros and
cons of privatizing our ailing refineries.
Challenges and resentments of energy
sector reforms in general and power
sector in particular in emerging
economy such as Nigeria are ubiquitous.
This can be due to the widespread
perception that it does not serve the
interests of the population at large. Also,
cost reflective tariffs, power failure, cut
off non-payers, loss of jobs and the
perception that only special interest are
served are some of the reasons for the
resentments.

Mr Felix Ayanruoh