Jonathan inaugurates SURE board, says total deregulation coming

[DT]

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday inaugurated the Board of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE) headed by Dr. Christopher Kolade.

He said the SURE was a programme "designed for total deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector." Jonathan said there was high level distrust by the public on government at fulfilling its promises saying, his administration would not fail Nigerians.

He said even with the partial deregulation that led to increase in pump price of fuel, his administration would still go ahead to reinvest the proceeds 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.

The President expressed confidence that considering the pedigree of members of the board; they would deliver on their mandate and appealed to Nigerians to cooperate with them.

Speaking on behalf of the board, Kolade assured that they would serve with "integrity, probity, transparency and accountability".

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.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan also launched a project tagged 'Public Works and Women/Youth Employment' aimed at generating 370,000 jobs for youths in the country.

The project is a component of the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE).

Jonathan said the youth are strategic partners in national development and that the government was prepared to address the problem of youth unemployment.

DailyTrust