A former presidential candidate of the defunct African Renaissance Party, Yahaya Ndu, has called on the Federal Government to legalise artisanal refineries across the Niger Delta region.
He argued that local refining capacity – rather than debates over fuel subsidy – remains the key to ending Nigeria’s energy crisis.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Monday, Ndu condemned the persistent destruction of local modular setups tagged as illegal oil bunkering sites by security agencies, describing the ongoing policy debate over fuel subsidy restoration as an insult to Nigerians.
He said, “It is an insult to our collective intelligence for us to be talking about whether you should bring back fuel subsidy or not. During the three-year civil war, on the Biafran side, there was never a case of fuel scarcity because we were refining our own petroleum products locally.
“Now, in contemporary Nigeria, more than 5,000 cottage refineries have been destroyed by the government. I have advocated consistently that all these so-called illegal refineries should be legalised—assist the operators, monitor them, standardise their products, give them access to crude and technological know-how, and ensure they don’t pollute the environment.”
The elder statesman emphasised that relying solely on colossal refinery projects while crushing indigenous initiatives stifles local economic growth and industrial self-reliance.
“What makes them illegal? It is not only when you build gigantic refineries like Dangote’s that you can refine crude. Those now agitating for the return of subsidy are the same individuals who campaigned for its removal,” he added.
Reiterating his stance on national unity and political equity, Ndu urged major political parties to utilise the substitution window in the Independent National Electoral Commission timetable to yield their presidential tickets to candidates from the South-East.
Drawing parallels to the post-June 12, 1993 political consensus that saw major parties zone presidential tickets to the South-West to assuage regional grievances, Ndu argued that the South-East deserves similar fairness.
“Following the annulment of the June 1993 election, major political parties zoned the presidency to the South-West. President Bola Tinubu was a beneficiary of that consensus through NADECO.
The South-East has suffered a thousand times over; why is it that now that it should be the turn of the South-East, we start to hear issues of competence? Democracy is essentially about mass participation and consensus, not individual talents alone,” he said.
On the escalating security challenges nationwide, the former ARP leader warned against placing state police under the exclusive control of partisan politicians.
He proposed that to prevent political abuse and ensure direct protection for vulnerable citizens, state police formations should be managed by traditional rulers, religious figures, youth, and women leaders.
He said, “The federal police we have now are controlled by partisan politicians, and insecurity does not directly affect them – governors or presidents are not the ones being kidnapped.
“State police can only make sense if those who suffer the brunt of insecurity – the masses –are directly in charge through their traditional and community representatives.”