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N180 landing cost: Work on refineries, forget subsidy removal, NLC tells FG

Updated Apr 18 2019 02:04 pm

The Nigeria Labour Congress has asked the Federal Government to forget the idea of removal of subsidy from petrol, saying what the government should work on is how to make the refineries work.


It said it would continue to oppose calls for the removal of fuel subsidy because it would mean fuel price increase which it insisted Nigerians would find difficult to accommodate.



Labour said this in view of the claim by the government that petrol landing cost now stands at N180 per litre.


The claim by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu is believed to be a subtle way of preparing Nigerians for an impending increase of petrol price from the present N145 per litre.


However, the NLC said the solution to the fuel issue should not be solely price increment.


General Secretary of the NLC, Peter Ozo-Eson, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the telephone, said the position of the union was clear on the issue of fuel subsidy, insisting that the solution to the issue was to make the nation’s refineries functioning. He added that the NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, had addressed the issue numerous times.


Ozo-Eson said, “On this issue, we are already on the public domain. We are opposed to the removal of fuel subsidy. What needed to be done is for the refineries to be fixed.


“If Nigeria stops the continuous importation of fuel, this matter will be addressed. But clearly, we are opposed to the removal of fuel subsidy. NLC president has also made clear statement about this matter.”


Earlier, the NLC president said corruption associated with fuel subsidy would continue to thrive until Nigeria began to refine crude locally to satisfy local demand.


He said, “What we need to do as a country is to end the regime of fuel import and refine fuel products locally. This will end the issue of fuel subsidy and the corruption associated with it.  If we do not do that, it will continue to be a cycle because, in Nigeria, the issue of fuel subsidy is by an extension, fuel price increase.


“The question is that will Nigerians be able to accommodate fuel price increase? The obvious answer is no. So if subsidy removal means fuel price increase, the answer is that no one will be able to accommodate it.”


In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday, NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, said the corporation would continue to bear the cost of under-recovery of petrol through other sources.


Ughamadu said, “The Federal Government has made it clear; petrol will continue to sell at N145 per litre. NNPC is not operating subsidy. What we have done is under-recovery of which we make up from other sources.


“Yes, the under-recovery will continue. The corporation plays many roles in the country. We are an importer of the last resort where others refuse to import.


“We equally operate in a social regime to make sure that the system gets wet with products because if the corporation is not doing that as part of its responsibilities, you can imagine what the system will look like.”


Meanwhile, the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party on Wednesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to come out clean on the current situation of petrol subsidy and what the future looks like for the country.


It said the President should address the nation in an honest and transparent manner on the issue.


The party made its position known in a statement to journalists by its national spokesman, Sesugh Akume.


It said the clarification became necessary in view of contradictory statements being made by government officials on the matter.


“President Buhari, himself the Petroleum Minister, is in the best position to clear all the contradictions and confusion on this matter, truthfully and honestly in bearing true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria as he swore on oath,” the party said.


The ANRP noted that at the weekend, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, said there was no immediate plan to remove subsidy payments on petrol while the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, had on January 5 told the House of Representatives that the price of petrol could soon rise to N180 per litre.


It added that the minister on Tuesday also said the landing cost of importing petrol was N180 per litre, thus making the current retail price of N145 per litre unsustainable and unrealistic.


The party also recalled that before Buhari became President, he had denied the existence of any subsidy payments on petrol by the Nigerian government, describing it as fraud.


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