According to Punch Newspaper, Former Governor of Edo State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, on Thursday advocated for the death penalty for those he termed economic saboteurs, particularly targeting those who are hindering the operations of the Dangote Refinery. According to Oshiomhole, these saboteurs' actions are pushing Nigerians into greater hardship. His statement was made during the maiden edition of Prof Emeka Umerah's public lecture in Abuja, where he featured as a guest speaker alongside former Director-General of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Sam Amadi.
Senator Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, revealed that the Nigerian Senate is currently seeking to review the contentious Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). This legislative review aims to address the various challenges and ensure that local enterprises, like the Dangote Refinery, can operate without undue external pressures. This move by the Senate underscores the government's commitment to support local industries and mitigate any actions that could sabotage the nation's economic progress.
In recent weeks, the media has highlighted the challenges faced by the Dangote Refinery, one of Africa's largest oil plants, particularly in securing local crude oil supplies. On June 23, Devakumar Edwin, Vice President in charge of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited, accused International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria of deliberately frustrating the refinery's operations by inflating the price of local crude oil. This situation has forced the refinery to look towards international markets, such as the United States, for crude oil, creating additional logistical and financial burdens.
He said, “So, with all the funfair and celebration of Dangote Refinery that, for once, we now have a Nigerian who has initiated and built one of the world’s biggest refineries, Nigeria’s crude oil is still being exported while Dangote is denied some allocations. They prefer to import it to Europe and leave Dangote to import its crude from America into Nigeria.
“Those guys deserve to be hanged. If we don’t hang them, they will hang all of us. What it takes to hang them will require a president with extraordinary courage. They are importing diesel even at a time when the CBN is saying there is too much pressure on our imports. President Tinubu celebrated the achievement (refinery) because it was his dream to create a free trade zone in that part of Lagos, which Dangote now took advantage of to locate his factory. What he saw as a governor between 1999 and 2007 was what they built.