An oil dealer in Port Harcourt, Mr Kingsley Irofuala on Wednesday said that a ban on petrol importation was necessary to revive and optimise production of Nigerian refineries.

Irofuala, owner of Kings Oil Filling station in Port Harcourt, expressed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while speaking on ways of overcoming fuel scarcity in the country.

He said that over dependence on imported fuel had contributed to the abandonment of local refineries.

‘’Importation of fuel has now opened a sinister of illegal ownership of refineries by some corrupt Nigerian leaders who divert our funds for such projects,'' Irofuala said.

He described as wickedness the manner Nigerians were building refineries outside the country to the disadvantage of the ordinary citizens.

``These same people use our money to buy fuel from their refineries which were built with stolen Nigerian money,’’ Irofuala said.

The fuel dealer called on Nigerians to begin to be patriotic, saying that the only panacea to curb corruption was the love for the country.

Irofuala advised President Muhamadu Buhari to formulate policies that would engender immediate functioning of the local refineries.

According to him, such policies will succeed only when petrol importation is banned because most of the importers are corrupt politicians.

He said that some of the economic saboteurs who sabotaged Nigerian refineries due to selfish interests would quit if petrol importation was stopped.

The oil dealer said that a ban on the importation would not only boost oil supply in the country, but put an end to financial recklessness among public officers.

Irofuala expressed confidence in the administration of President Buhari to drive ``uncommon development in Nigeria with uncompromising policies``. (NAN)

Photo shows: Petrol Station