Reps back increase in fuel price - It’s unfortunate –Labour - As fire guts NNPC Lagos depot

From Bola Badmus, Soji Eze-Fagbemi and Kunle Oderemi - 18.11.2009

THE House of Representatives, on Tuesday, formally declared support for the planned deregulation of the downstream sector by the Umaru Yar’Adua administration, arguing that it was aimed at breaking the cartel that had benefitted hugely from N1.45 trillion subsidy that government expended between 2006 and now.

But the organised labour, led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), has consistently maintained that deregulation would head to increase in the price of fuel.

The House, which made its decision known while passing a motion sponsored by Minority Leader, Honourable Muhammed Ali Ndume, also said the policy, when fully operational, would make fuel available and affordable, as it happened in the communication industry concerning call tariffs.

However, the House faulted the processes by which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) were approaching the issue without carrying along the National Assembly before which a Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was for consideration currently, decrying a situation whereby the agencies preferred running commentaries on the pages of newspapers rather than engaging the stakeholders meaningfully on the controversial policy.

It directed both the NNPC and the DPR to watch their utterances on the implementation of the policy in order to avoid panic buying and hoarding of the products.

Mover of the motion, Honourable Ndume, who insisted that deregulation of the downstream of the country’s oil industry was imperative to solve the problems associated with products’ scarcity, however, cautioned that the exercise must be done in a manner that would not inflict pains on the masses.

He said the NNPC and DPR should have embarked on sensitisation of Nigerians to the necessity of the policy instead of making inflammatory statements that had engendered panic buying and hoarding of the products.
“Instead of lobbying us in the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, government agencies are busy making statements that have created panic buying and hoarding of the products. The NNPC is a Nigerian agency. The petroleum products we are talking about also belong to Nigerians. So why are we creating problems for ourselves?” the lawmaker representing Borno State queried.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/18112009/news/news1.html