A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, was recently featured on Channels Television, where he spoke on the controversies around fuel subsidy. This comes days after the newly elected president, Bola Tinubu, announced its removal while delivering his inaugural speech.
The human rights activist and lawyer claimed that Nigeria is the only oil-producing country that imports petroleum products.
“Shamefully, this country (Nigeria) is the only oil-producing country in the world that imports petroleum products, only one!” Falana said.
Claim: Nigeria is the only oil-producing country importing petroleum products globally
Verification
The CDD War Room investigated the claim to verify its authenticity, and here is what we found.
Nigeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), an inter-governmental organization with 13 member countries, primarily located in the Middle East, Africa, and South America. The other 12 members are; Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, and Iraq.
Beyond the countries under the umbrella of OPEC, there are other oil-producing countries, including the United States of America (USA), Russia, Canada, China, Brazil, Ghana, Cameroon, the United Kingdom, India, and Thailand, among others.
Recent data from Statista shows that among the oil-producing African states, Nigeria, Libya, Angola, Algeria, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo import petroleum products. The United States of America, which is among the top oil producers, also imports petroleum products as can be seen here and here. For instance, the U.S. imported $132.4 billion worth of crude products in 2019.
Other oil-producing countries that also import petroleum products include India, the United Kingdom, Thailand, and China, among others.
Verdict: False
The claim by Femi Falana that Nigeria is the only oil-producing country in the world importing petroleum products is false. Findings by the CDD War Room show that there are various oil-producing countries worldwide that import petroleum products.