The Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC) has berated the Federal Government over the resurgence of
fuel queues across the country, stressing that it considers the scarcity an
insult to the collective pride of Nigerians.
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said in
Abuja yesterday that various excuses given by government, as reasons for the
pain Nigerians were experiencing, are not acceptable.
He said: “The NLC considers this
scarcity as an act of cruelty and sabotage from which a few privileged are
benefitting. The timing of this artificial scarcity is not lost on us, as it is
intended to maximise pain and profit, since it is a well-known fact that the
Christmas season witnesses the biggest movement of people, goods and services.”
Ayuba
reiterated that the congress equally considers the scarcity as an insult to the
collective pride of all good Nigerians.Also, NLC General Secretary, Dr Peter
Ozo-Eson, told The Guardian that the confusion in the downstream sub-sector of
the Nigerian oil and gas sector was established when the price modulation based
on petroleum products import regime was introduced.
“Nigerians
will be bear us witness that we canvassed against the introduction of price
modulation; we said it was going to fail. Our argument then was that there was
no way a price modulation regime can work in an environment that is import
dependent. It would be recalled that the NLC staged protests against the move,
but we were ignored. Today, we are back to the same turf. The scarcity we are
witnessing now is not new. It started two years ago technically.”
Dr.
Ozo-Eson, who is also a member of the PPPRA board, said there was no discussion
on upward price adjustment when the board met last week. He insisted that it
was the duty of the PPPRA management to respond to all the issues that are
driving the present scarcity, adding: “The board does not speak on any matter.
That is the job of the management. It is the management that speaks on all the
issues. The management should sort out all the bottlenecks, so that people will
not have any problems travelling during Yuletide.”
On his
part, the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory
Agency (PPPRA), Abdukadir Umar, said there are no plans to increase fuel price.
“We want
to use this medium to assure all Nigerians that there is no need for
apprehension or panic buying. We are confident that the NNPC, being a major
supplier of petroleum products into the system and the supplier of last resort,
can ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products into the market and the
corporation has given assurances in that regard.”
The PPPRA
boss urged fuel consumers across the country to be calm as there is no plan by
government to review the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). He stressed
that his agency would continue to monitor the supply situation and take every
step required to ensure that there is no disruption in the system. He also
assured stakeholders and members of the public of uninterrupted products supply
and distribution, pursuant to the overall goal of facilitating a vibrant and
robust downstream oil and gas sub-sector.
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