NLC, TUC, PENGASSAN, others fault oil sector reform

[TGD]

 STAKEHOLDERS in the petroleum industry yesterday canvassed a more comprehensive programme of reforms in the sector, with a view to reviving domestic refining and reducing the country's dependence on importation of petroleum products.

They were unanimous in submitting that the past and current reform efforts in the oil sector had not worked and that deregulation cannot be import-driven.

They also argued that domestic products pricing must not be based on import price parity if the country is to confer on the domestic economy a competitive advantage based on the resource in which the nation is richly endowed.

These formed the fulcrum of submissions at a stakeholders National Consultation on Petroleum Subsidy organised by the Initiative for Peace and Industrial Harmony, which had in attendance representatives of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria PENGASSAN, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and civil society groups.

Setting the tone for the discourse, convener of the workshop and former Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, expressed worry that government had not engaged the stakeholders enough on the proposed removal of the fuel subsidy in order to avert possible crisis that might trail the policy.

Koripamo-Agary stressed that government must show "willingness to answer some critical questions being raised by Nigerians on the issue of fuel subsidy."

Acting President, NLC, Kiri Mohammed, noted that the reasons government adduced for its resolve to remove fuel subsidy were untenable.

Mohammed charged government to curb corrupting in all sectors of the economy, especially in the oil sector, in order to have more funds for development purposes, instead of milking the citizenry to generate more revenue through subsidy removal without due consideration of the social and economic consequences on the Nigerian people.

He argued that "because petroleum products are inputs in the production process of virtually all sectors of the national economy, the impact of increases in their prices needs to be evaluated on the basis of the overall economy and not just the narrow sector of the downstream and government revenue."



The Guardian