The African Action Congress, AAC, presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore says he would make Nigeria’s four refineries work if elected president in 2027.
Sowore made the pledge on Tuesday when he featured in an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time.
He attributed the non-operational status of the government-owned refineries to corruption and the misappropriation of funds by previous administrations.
According to him, if Nigeria refines crude oil locally, it could achieve significant cost savings and create job opportunities for the teeming youths.
“There are four refineries in Nigeria, and I can make them work. If we are refining locally, even if we save N10 per gallon, it is a huge amount considering that we consume over 60 million litres daily.
“The fuel importation we are doing is from countries that are refining locally. We have refineries built by Nigerians in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, that we are importing from.
“I think there’s somewhere in Niger Republic where we are importing from. Why can’t we make our own refineries work?” He queried.
The human rights activist also said he planned not to remove the fuel subsidy.
“The person who can sustain the subsidy, support the poor, and still fight corruption is who you go with, not someone who was part of those looting the subsidy funds and benefited from sabotaging the masses,” he added.