Talks between the Federal Government and
organised labour on the increase in the pump price of petrol ended in a
deadlock on Monday night.
Briefing journalists at the end of the
four-hour meeting on Tuesday morning, the Secretary to the Government of
the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, said the two parties had “a
fruitful discussion and will continue from where we stopped.”
The meeting, which ended at about 12 midnight, will resume at 3pm on Tuesday (today).
Lawal, however, refused to answer further questions from newsmen.
The Federal Government, however, began
another round of meeting with the Joe Ajaero-led faction of the labour
movement at about 12.15am on Tuesday after its meeting with the Ayuba
Wabba-led Nigeria Labour Congress.
Wabba confirmed that discussions with the Federal Government would continue by 3pm on Tuesday (today).
Sources at the meeting said the labour leaders were not convinced by the figures presented by the government team.
Those who attended the meeting included
Wabba; NLC General Secretary, Peter Ozo-Esun; NUPENG president, Igwe
Achese; PENGASSAN President, Olabode Johnson; TUC President, Bobboi
Kaigama; Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige; Senior
Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters
(Senate), Senator Ita Enang; and the Edo State Governor, Adams
Oshiomhole.
Earlier on Monday, the Federal Government said it had no choice but to liberalise the price of petrol.
The Minister of Information and Culture,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this at a news conference in Abuja,
justified the increase in the price of petrol to N145.
He also faulted a claim that the new price regime was about removal of subsidy.
He stated, “We have no choice but to
liberalise the price of petrol if we are to end the crippling fuel
scarcity that has enveloped the country, ensure the availability of the
product and end the suffering of our people over the lingering
scarcity.”
Debunking a claim that the new price
regime was about removal of subsidy, he said, “There is no subsidy to
remove because no provision was made for subsidy in the 2016 budget.
Last year, the government paid out N1tn in subsidy, and that’s one sixth
of this year’s budget. We can’t afford to pay another N1tn in subsidy.”
Justifying the government’s action, he
said the fall in the price of crude oil had led to the reduction of
foreign exchange available in the country.
This, he explained, had forced marketers
to stop the importation of the product, thus making the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation the supplier of over 90 per cent of
petrol.
Mohammed stated, “With the drastic fall
in the price of crude oil, which is the nation’s main foreign exchange
earner, there has also been a drastic reduction in the amount of foreign
exchange available
“The unavailability of forex and the
inability to open letters of credit have forced marketers to stop
product importation and imposed over 90 per cent supply on the NNPC
since October 2015, in contrast to the past where NNPC supplied 48 per
cent of the national requirement.”
He dismissed critics, who were comparing
ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s fuel price increase in 2012 to the
recent one by the Buhari administration.
Mohammed added, ‘‘Our answer to that is
that there is no basis for comparison. The conditions in 2012 were
vastly different from the conditions now.
“Then, oil was selling for over 100
dollars a barrel, compared to just a little over 40 dollars a barrel
now. Then, the country was awash in forex, thanks to the high earnings
from oil. Then the foreign reserves were high.
“The new price regime is simply inevitable.”
The minister also disclosed that the
renewed insurgency and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta had
drastically reduced national crude oil production to 1.65 million
barrels per day, against the 2.2 million barrels per day planned in the
2016 budget.
He noted that the resultant fuel
scarcity had created an abnormal increase in price, resulting in
Nigerians paying between N150 and N300 per litre because hoarding,
smuggling and diversion of products had reduced volumes made available
to citizens.
He stated, “The liberalisation of petrol
supply and distribution will allow marketers and any Nigerian entity,
willing to supply PMS, to source for their forex and import PMS to
ensure the availability of the products in all locations of the
country.”
In a similar vein, Christians in the 19
northern states and Abuja on Monday backed the deregulation of the
petroleum industry and cautioned the Nigeria Labour Congress against the
proposed nationwide strike.
Under the aegis of the Northern chapter
of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the association called on
organised labour to shelve its planned nationwide strike over the
increase in the price of petrol.
Northern CAN’s Public Relations Officer,
Reverend John Hayab, who spoke to our correspondent in Kaduna on
Monday, said the deregulation of the downstream oil sector was the best
option for now in stimulating the nation’s economy.
Hayab noted that the proposed nationwide
strike by organised labour could not be in the interest of Nigerians as
according to him, “strike has never and will not be the option to
revamping the economy.”
The cleric also proposed dialogue
between organised labour and the government in order to find a common
ground in solving the current problem.
He noted that the association was,
however, not happy with the way the Federal Government removed the fuel
subsidy without due consultations with other stakeholders.
The spokesman added, “We understand the
pains and difficulties Nigerians are passing through. We share the pains
and difficulties with them. This is a period of sacrifice.
“We don’t think going or embarking on
strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress is the best option. The best
option is a roundtable discussion.”
Meanwhile, the Catholic Archdiocese of
Abuja has warned the nation’s organised labour to reflect on its
proposed industrial action against the increase in the pump price of
petrol.
The church said while it supported the
efforts being made by the government, it was optimistic that Nigerians
needed to give the government the benefit of the doubt over its
intentions and policies.
The Director of Communications, Social
Communications Department of the Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Patrick Alumuku,
said this during a press conference on Monday in Abuja, to mark his
35th anniversary of priesthood and to herald the public presentation of
his book, Candle Wax.
According to him, whereas it was
necessary to ask the government to be vigilant and have the people at
heart in all it does, labour needed to think twice about “whether we are
going to throw ourselves into chaos of where salaries are not being
paid or make this sacrifice.”
Luckily, we are talking of government
that came on board with desire to help Nigerians improve the condition
of their lives and I believe this government has some responsibilities
in its hands.”
But in Osogbo, the Osun State capital,
the Bishop of Sufficient Grace and Truth Ministry, Seun Adeoye, on
Monday, staged a solo protest against the increase in the pump price of
petrol.
The cleric, a former Chairman of the
Nigeria Union of Journalists, Osun State Council, started the protest in
front of the Osun State Government House, Okefia, around 10am and
marched to the popular Olaiya Junction, where he addressed journalists.
The bishop was dressed in full regalia
of his office, hanging a placard with an inscription “N145 per litre:
This is not change but chain.”
The bishop said he would trek from
Osogbo to Abuja in protest against the policy if the Federal Government
refused to review the policy.
He said, “This is not the change they
promised the people. At most, it should be N95 per litre. This price is
too much. Things are very bad and this hike would worsen it.”
Civil society organisations in Edo State
have, however, vowed to mobilise their members across the 18 local
government areas of the state in support of the planned nationwide
protest strike.
The groups, under the aegis of the Coalition to Save Nigeria, made this known on Monday in Benin.
Also, on Monday in Benin, Edo Civil
Society Organisations staged a peaceful protest in the state capital
against the new price regime.
But the Coalition to Save Nigeria, in a
statement by Dr. Philip Ugbodaga, condemned the increase in the price of
petrol describing it as a move by the Federal Government to ambush
Nigerians, whom they said were not consulted before the decision was
taken.
It argued that government was “fantastically wrong” in taking the decision like it did in 2012.
It also noted that the government and
political leaders were yet to lead by example in its call to Nigerians
to sacrifice in the interest of the country.
The spokesperson for EDSON, Omobude
Agho, however, said Nigerians would mobilise against organised labour,
if it displayed any form of compromise in returning the pump price to
N86.50k.
SOURCE:PUNCH NEWSPAPER
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