Nigeria can’t blindly sign agreements, Says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said that Nigeria is too
big and too diverse to blindly sign agreements without
understanding the consequences of such actions.

Buhari made the remark while receiving representatives of the
Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) led by its President,
Mr Babatunde Ruwase, at the Presidential Villa.

A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi
Adesina, said that the President used the occasion of his audience
with members of the LCCI to shine more light on his decision to
inaugurate a Presidential Committee last Monday to assess the
potential costs and impact of the agreement establishing the
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for Nigeria.

He said ‘‘Nigeria is still assessing the impact of this
agreement on its backward integration and import substitution
policies.

‘‘Specifically, the provisions on rules of origin and
transhipment were matters of concern to us.

‘‘Already, some of the treaties we are party to have been
significantly abused resulting in massive smuggling which has
crippled many of our local industries and destroyed millions of
jobs.

‘‘To avoid these past mistakes, we conducted vast consultations
across the country in which the LCCI participated. The responses
have been mixed,’’ the President said.

On the issue of the gridlock in Apapa, Lagos, President Buhari
acknowledged that the situation was a major concern to all.

‘‘The work on Wharf road is in progress. We will continue to do
our best to expedite the repair works at the Ijora Bridge without
compromising quality.

‘‘We have also directed the Nigerian Railway Corporation to use
their infrastructure in the ports to support the evacuation
efforts, thereby further decongesting the area.

‘‘Be assured that the completion of these projects is a major
priority of this administration,’’ he said.

Speaking earlier, Ruwase while commending the Federal Government
for the series of Executive Orders focused on promoting the ease of
doing business in the country, stressed the need to improve the
regulatory environment in the oil and gas industry.

He appealed to the executive arm of the government to
expeditiously consider the Petroleum Industry Bill through
appropriate collaborative actions with the National Assembly.

The LCCI president also drew the attention of the President to
the numerous abandoned Federal Government properties in Lagos and
the economic waste it represents.

He urged the Federal Government to either return the property to
Lagos State government which is the original owner of the land; or
give them out on lease to the private sector.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the
closed doors meeting, he said “We commended the government on Ease
of Doing Business. We also asked the government to digitize its
operations as part of measure to tackle corruption. That will
reduce man to man interactions in carrying out government business.
We advised government to use this all through its processes.

“We also tasked government on the Petroleum Industry Governance
BIll PIGB. We need to pass this quickly because many countries are
discovering crude oil and this has made investments in the sector
very competitive.

“We are contending with other nations for investment in the
sector. So we need to attract investors by reducing unnecessary
bottlenecks. Instead of giving incentives, the feelers we are
getting is that the NPA is going to levy $1 per barrel of crude and
other such levies are going to be imposed. We urged them to quickly
pass the law to make our oil and gas more competitive to
investors.

“We also talk about the Apapa gridlock. Instead of making
profits, we are counting loses by the day because of demurrage ,
which has grounded our export drive. What the government need to do
is to use pipeline to transport imported petroleum products.

“We also mentioned to his Excellency that we shall be
celebration of our 130th anniversary.

“In the area of power, we also urged government to look into the
issues. The problem we have is distribution. With what we are
generating today, we cannot distribute more than 4000 megawatts. We
should be thinking more of how to deal with distribution and
transmission.” he said

According to him, the President promised to do something about
the Apapa issues.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria, the Independence building, the
National Assembly, the NITEL building etc.

“We Appealed to the federal government that they either give
them to the Lagos State government or put them into proper shape so
that they can be put into proper use to generate money for the
government. They are currently wasting away and providing abode for
hoodlums, criminals and the likes.” he stated.