POLITICS OF PLUNDER : UNDERSTANDING ALLOCATION OF FUEL IMPORT LICENSES TO INDEPENDENT MARKETERS AND INVESTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF REFINERIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper attempts to capture the link between allocation of fuel import licenses politics and challenges encountered by investors in the development of refineries in Nigeria. It highlights how class interests and power relations factor affect policies
and policy outcomes. Using empirical evidence from primary and secondary sources of data which build upon the politics of prebendalism, this article unravels how the daily surge in resources through fuel importation to the Nigerian dominant class, has made investment opportunities in the downstream oil and gas sector impossible in a capitalist society. This paper suggests the deregulation of the downstream oil sector through the passage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) abandoned in the parliament since 2009 that will boost the private sector- led development of the refineries.