• Ensure that petroleum products are made available to consumers in an uninterrupted manner.
• Eradicate waste and corruption which are consequences of a tightly regulated economy. • Ensure that the supply and distribution of petroleum products are orderly and consumer friendly.
• Channel money realized from the exercise to development projects that will be beneficial to the majority of the people.
Notwithstanding the above, the office of the Chief Economic Adviser of the president in collaboration with the NNPC and the budget office of the Federation asserted that the rationale behind the Federal Government’s plan to deregulate the downstream petroleum sector includes:
• To improve the efficient use of scarce economic resources by subjecting decisions in the sector to the operations of the forces of demand and supply.
• Deregulation will further reduce economic waste and lightens social burdens caused by government control.
• To expand opportunities for economic growth, a competitive sector and help achieve greater cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, Allison Madueke (2011) harped on the imperatives for the deregulation of the downstream sector including:
• Saving of cost in petroleum subsidies.
• Job creation opportunities.
• Downtime record in the existing refineries.
• Investment opportunities or foreign direct investment in the sector.
Lara Banjoko is the CEO of Zone4 Energy Limited. An epitome of beauty and brain, she is a successful business-woman who has worked so hard to make a name for herself.