President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday inaugurated the Board of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE) headed by Christopher Kolade.
During the inauguration which took place in Abuja, the President said that the SURE programme was “designed for total deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector.”
He said there was high level distrust by the public on government at fulfilling its promises saying, his administration would not fail Nigerians.
Mr Jonathan acknowledged that his administration originally planned a complete deregulation of the downstream Petroleum sector; the controversies that greeted the planned led to a mere increase of the pump price of premium motor spirit (petrol).
He said his administration would still go ahead to reinvest the proceeds from the increase of the pump price of petrol for the benefits of the people.
“What we have now is an increase in pump price and not total deregulation, but we have to show that we are committed to delivering on our promises,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the board, the board’s Chairman, Mr Kolade assured that they would serve with “integrity, probity, transparency and accountability”. He pleaded with Nigerians to cooperate with the government and his board to ensure rapid infrastructural development in the country.
The board was set up January 2 after the announcement of fuel subsidy removal which triggered a new pump price regime for fuel with a litre sold at N141 from N65.
The Board was charged with the mandate of ensuring effective and timely implementation of projects to be funded from subsidy savings.
They were also charged with the responsibility of monitoring the fund in the petroleum subsidy savings account, and the programme specifically to improve the quality of life of the people.
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