Doyin Okupe to Tinubu: Take more bold steps — Nigeria must quit OPEC

Doyin Okupe, a former presidential aide, says President Bola Tinubu has shown “much determination and courage” as the leader of the country.

Okupe, who said the president had taken two “extraordinary” steps since his assumption of office on May 29, advised him to take “bolder steps”.

“President Bola Tinubu actually hit the ground sprinting; showing much determination, zeal, commitment and courage,” Okupe, a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), said in an opinion article.

“He has taken two extraordinarily bold steps by abolishing fuel subsidy and equalising foreign exchange. This without doubt is causing very severe pain and hardship on the populace.

“However, in order to ground these policies properly, and reduce the pain on the populace, the president will still need to take more bolder steps.”

Offering suggestions on how to reform the country’s economy, Okupe said Nigeria must quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“Nigeria must quit OPEC. In about two decades from now, oil reserves may become meaningless. The present allocation of less than 2 million barrels per day for Nigeria with a population of over 200 million people and its prevailing strangulating economic conditions, given volumes of export to our main foreign exchange earner (90%) is inimical to our growth as a nation and to the wellbeing of the citizens,” he said.

Outside OPEC, Okupe said Nigeria can reduce its selling price of crude but also increase its exports to three million barrels and above per day.

This, he noted, will increase accruable revenue from forex by up to 200 percent or more, which will allow the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to have more supply of foreign exchange to the banks.

“In the face of surplus liquidity in forex supply, Naira will gain tremendous value over the Dollar,” he added.

“The present situation whereby the oil majors earn 60% of our accruable revenue from sales of oil leaving Nigeria with only 40% is no longer economically and financially prudent or reasonable.

“The NNPC can no longer serve fully, nor can it meet the full expectations of its obligations to the Nigerian people.

“I am inclined to recommend that the President & his team should take a look and study the Atiku Abubakar model as it concerns the NNPC as a commercial entity.”

On December 19, 2022, a federal high court in Abuja sentenced Okupe to two years imprisonment for breaching the money laundering act.

Ijeoma Ojukwu, the presiding judge, had ruled that Okupe was at liberty to pay N500,000 fine on each of the counts — totalling N13 million.

Barely  24 hours after the conviction, he stepped down from his position as the director-general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council.