There is no reason why the Nigerian Government should still be in the oil and gas sector. It should just get out, it has failed – El-Rufai

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said there’s no reason why the federal Government should still be in the oil and gas sector.

Channels Television reported that, in his speech at the seventh edition of KadInvest, an annual event organised by the Kaduna State Investment Promotion Agency, the Kaduna state Governor noted that some sectors doing well in the country like entertainment, telecoms, fintech and others have no government involvement.

According to the Kaduna state Governor, whatever the government manages turns out bad.

El-Rufai who fruther averred that the commercialization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company in July 2022 has changed nothing, also said that the NNPC is Nigeria’s biggest problem and should be privatized.

The Governor pointed out that  Nigerian Telecommunications Limited achieved nothing until the private sector came in and revolutionalized the telecoms business.

He reportedly also called for the privatization of the power sector so the country can overcome the hydra-headed and decades-long challenges of the sector.

He said;

“I am giving this example so that when I say government should get out of oil and gas, people should not think it is crazy; it is not. There is no reason why the Nigerian Government should still be in the oil and gas sector. It should just get out, it has failed. By every measure it has failed.

“This year, NNPC has not brought N20,000 to the federation account. We are living on taxes. It is PPTs, royalties, income tax and VAT that is keeping this country going because NNPC claims that subsidy has taken all the oil revenues. I don’t believe it.

“So, the government should sell everything in oil and gas sector…The government should get out of everything that is left of electricity, leave it to the private sector, create the environment, the money will come. We did it in the telecoms sector.

“Nothing has changed, it’s just a change in name with limited at the end.

“Nothing has changed, they are still taking our money, declaring profit that we don’t see the dividends.”