Nigeria should not be classified as an oil-rich economy, the Directoe General, Budget Office, Ben Akabueze has said.
He said the country’s ratio of population to production does not in anyway qualify us to be oil rich.
“We are not even an oil-rich economy. To classify oil-rich economies, you talk of countries like Saudi Arabia where there are 34 million of them and pump 10 million barrels of crude per day, or Kuwait where there are 3 million of them and pump 3 million barrels per day,” he said
The Budget Office boss added that while Nigeria has a population of over 200 million, “we are currently pumping about 1.9 million barrels per day.”
He stressed, “So, we are not a rich economy and must resist the temptation we are an oil-rich economy. Let me make it clear that we are potentially rich countries, but we are not.”
