Capital projects to be ready by 2015 if deregulation succeeds – Presidency

Political Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, has promised that capital projects embarked upon by the present administration will be completed by 2015. He told a news conference in Abuja on Monday that the removal of fuel subsidy was significant way to make funds available for the prompt execution of the projects.
He noted that deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry was important to reduce the amount of debt the nation incurred yearly to finance budget deficits. Gulak said the N1.3 trillion spent on subsidy yearly could be deployed to the execution of capital projects so that Nigerians would feel government’s impact.
‘’We have a compendium of projects that will be executed and these projects is the bond of the government and you will always take government on it. For example the second Niger Bridge, the Mambilla plateau hydroelectric power project that will generate about 2,600 megawatts is part of the projects to be implemented, the railway from all over the country. And this is project to be executed outside the normal budgetary provisions of the government.’’
Gulak said if there deregulation succeeded, private companies that had been given licences to operate refineries would build and operate them. He stressed that government was not in a hurry to remove fuel subsidy, but that he was “optimistic that after all the consultations it will pull through’’. The presidential aide stated also that the government was still in consultation with all stakeholders to bring them round to accepting deregulation.