President Bola Tinubu is currently meeting with members of the implementation committee for crude oil and refined products sales in local currency.
Led by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, the committee gathered at the State House in Abuja to brief the President on progress with the initiative.
Key figures attending the meeting include the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari; Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji; and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Yemi Cardoso. Also present are the Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Mallam Farouk Ahmed; the Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe; and Dangote Group President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
The ongoing meeting is reportedly to update President Tinubu on the committee’s implementation efforts to ease foreign exchange pressure on the economy through local currency transactions in the oil sector.
On July 29, President Tinubu directed the NNPCL to begin selling crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries, denominating these transactions in naira.
Special Adviser to the President on Revenue, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, previously explained the goal of this initiative, stating, “Today, at the Federal Executive Council, there was a memo by Mr. President, which is to promote the sale of crude oil within local refineries and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to deal in our local currency. The attitude of Mr. President is thinking outside the box to solve Nigeria’s problem and actually to localize the solutions to Nigeria’s problem.”
Adedeji added, “He has approved through the Council that, effective immediately, NNPC get engaged with local refineries, starting with Dangote Refinery. That the sales of crude oil to Dangote Refinery be denominated in naira and also the sales of byproducts from Dangote Refinery to distributors also be conducted in naira. What does it mean to our economy? One, the pressure on foreign exchange will be reduced.”
AFREXIM Bank has been selected as the pilot settlement bank to facilitate these transactions as part of the committee’s implementation plan.