FG to ban petroleum products’ importation by 2018

The Minister of Science and Technology , Dr . Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that the Federal Government will ban the importation of refined petroleum products into the country by 2018 .
Onu made the declaration in his country home in Uburu Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on Monday while addressing a meeting of stakeholders of the ruling All Progressive Congress .
He noted that the country had relied on a single commodity , oil, which it could not determine its price, and had subsequently relegated the other sources of revenue .
The minister said , “ By 2018 , Nigeria will stop the importation of refined petroleum products into the country; since independence in 1960 , the country has relied on a single commodity and failed to diversify its economy ; even now , we export crude oil and import petroleum products .
“ The 2 . 2 million barrels allocated to Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries is not being met as a result of the menace of insurgency ; the inability to meet our quota is affecting the nation. ”
Onu stated that the Ministry of Science and Technology was working to change the country from a resource - based economy to multi -faceted economic base , adding India that had no oil but had a refinery of 1 . 2 million barrels capacity.
Speaking against the backdrop of the menace of insurgency in the North -East geopolitical zone of the country, the minister said that the Federal Government had drastically contained the activities of Boko Haram and other terrorist sects , with the capture of the Sambisa Forest by the military .
“ People who fled their residences in the North - East , mostly Bornu , Yobe and Adamawa , are now returning home and rebuilding the affected zones , ” he said .