From establishing a green army to tap into $3 trillion international climate finance to incentivising the private sector for boutique refineries, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has unveiled his manifesto where he listed three priority areas in Nigeria’s energy sector.
In his newly released 2023 presidential election manifesto tagged “Our Pact with Nigerians: Creating a new Nigeria”, Obi promised three key priority areas that were needed to jump-start Nigeria’s energy sector, the economic heartbeat plagued with teething challenges.
According to the pact, some priority areas include establishing a green army to tap global funds, incentivising the private sector for boutique refineries and enforcing the mandatory National Strategic Reserve of major petroleum products.
Obi said he wants to identify opportunities and tap into the $3 trillion international climate finance using a green army.
The Labour Party candidate believes Nigeria is among the top 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change, which poses the greatest economic, physical, financial and developmental risks.
“But it also offers enormous opportunities to unleash the green growth transition and boost prosperity. We shall establish a Green Army tasked with identifying all opportunities to tap into the $3 trillion international climate finance to engineer economic growth and employment for millions of our youths and transition our country to the green epoch,” Obi explained in his 72-page manifesto released on Sunday.
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Obi says under his administration Nigeria’s economic production will be equitably geared towards the net-zero emissions drive.
“So, the Obi campaign will re-design incentives for present and prospective investors in the industrial sector coupled with an apprenticeship system to provide a ready-made source of technical expertise in the relevant areas,” the document explained.
The manifesto states that the Obi campaign plans to incentivize the mid-stream segment of the petroleum industry by facilitating gas processing plants and privately-owned small and medium-scale boutique refineries, with a view to reducing the importation of refined petroleum products, and eliminating the petrol subsidy regime, which has become a huge burden on the budget.
In the manifesto, the Obi campaign plans to review and enforce the mandatory National Strategic Reserve of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Diesel (AGO), aviation fuel, and cooking gas to reduce the country’s national vulnerability to sudden disruptions to the supply of these fuels. The manifesto also stated:
“We will ensure that the federal government offers meaningful incentives to corporate entities and industries that make discernible efforts to transit to clean and alternative energy, not only for local consumption but also for export, Obi’s campaign document said.
It added, “Our priority is the preservation of our environmental integrity, using a carrot-and-stick approach to ensure that industrial production and oil production do not damage our environment and livelihood systems”.
Apart from Obi, other presidential hopefuls in Africa’s most populous nation have drawn up economic plans ahead of crunch polls in 2023 targeting unrealistic growth numbers for an economy gasping for breath.
While Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, has ambitions to privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Company despite glaring hurdles; Bola Tinubu, candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, wants to raise Nigeria’s oil output to 4 million barrels per day.
The 2023 elections could be decided on two main fronts: the fragile health of the economy and rising insecurity, according to multiple polls done to ascertain what Nigerians want fixed as they select a new leader.
