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| President Muhammadu Buhari |
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday held separate meetings with the two key figures in the nation’s oil and gas administration at the State House, Abuja.
The President met with both the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Mela Kyari, in separate meetings, behind closed doors.
The details of the meetings were kept under wraps from journalists as both officials avoided giving any briefing to State House Correspondents, who were waiting to get tips of the discussions with President.
The meeting with the NNPC GMD came first at about noon. It was later followed up with that of the Minister at about 3pm.
There, however, had been a couple of new developments in the petroleum industry, which have affected projections around oil sales and the funding of the N10.6 trillion-worth 2020 Budget.
The Middle East hostility, involving the United States of America and Iran has recently shot the price of crude oil up to as high as $70 during the week. The benchmark for crude sale was set at $57.
A source who had an idea of what went on during the meetings told The Nation Wednesday evening that the meetings may not be unconnected with the recent developments around global oil sales, but noted that there was nothing out of the ordinary about them as the officials involved were mandated to routinely brief the President, who is the substantive Petroleum Minister.
“The minister went for routine briefing. You would have noticed that these briefings are regular, just to keep Mr President abreast of developments in the ministry.
“Heads of MDAs like the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and other ministers like that of Finance/Budget Planning have also been holding routine meetings with Mr President.
“Yes, a meeting between Sylva and the President today may not exclude oil prices, in view of the latest developments and the implications on prices for oil-dependent economies like ours”, the source said.
