I’ll resign if Nigeria continues oil import in 2019, Kachikwu vows .

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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said he would resign if Nigeria continues to import oil by 2019. Kachikwu said this in an interview on BBC’s programme, Hardtalk, with Stephen Sackur today.
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In the 23-minute encounter, Sackur asked “When is Nigeria going to be sufficient in terms of refined petroleum?”, to which Kachikwu replies, “2019 is the target time. I target 2019. If I don’t achieve it, I will walk (away). I put the date and I’ll achieve it.
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I have delivered on all that I have promised when I came into office. First, I took NNPC and made it a profit-making organisation. This is the first time such is happening. I reshaped the organisation.
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I removed cash call deficits of over $6bn and renegotiated it. I will deliver on the refineries and I’m committed to it. I will deliver a future for oil that makes sense for Nigeria. I can’t pretend that we’re going to solve in one day all the problems that happened in Nigeria in the past…” .
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“You’re running out of time,” Sackur reminded the minister, to which Kachikwu says, “Don’t worry; I put the date, I’ll work it." "And if you don’t achieve it?” asks Sachur. Kachikwu replies, “I’ll walk. That’s accountability.” .
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He added that he had already begun the process required for him to achieve this set objective, saying, “We have been able to get them to produce 7m litres of oil versus zero. That’s not the 90% template, we are now refurbishing the refineries.
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I have just signed an agreement with Agip to build refineries in Nigeria and we are focusing on multinationals…” Kachikwu expressed regrets that Nigeria still imports crude oil, instead of exporting at this point in time. “We ought to process rather than ship out crude," he said.

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