The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fuel price hike

  • Senate backs fuel price hike

    After over one hour closed session, the Senate on Tuesday gave a tacit support to the controversial increase in the pump price of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) other known as petrol.

    The Federal Government increased the pump price of petrol from N86.50 per litre to N145 per litre due to paucity of funds and the massive corruption in the fuel subsidy regime.

    Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who read resolutions of the upper lawmakers, noted that “the Senate in a closed session deliberated on the increase in the pump price of PMS by the Federal Government.”

    Ekweremadu also said they deliberated on the “threats by the organised Labour to embark on a nationwide strike over the matter.”

    He said the Senate resolved to “sympathise with ordinary Nigerians on the hardships they are going through,” following the increase

    He added that they resolved to “engage the federal government to find sustainable ways of improving the welfare of Nigerians.”

    Ekweremadu said they further resolved to “call on government to continue to engage the organised labour and other stakeholders to resolve issues in order not to ground the system and impose more hardships on the people.”

    The Senate, he said, urged the government to “immediately start implementing palliatives or palliative measures contained in the 2016 Appropriation Act passed by the National Assembly.”

    A source said that there was a heated argument for and against the fuel price increase during the closed session.

     

     

  • Fuel price hike, tough decision-Osinbajo

    Fuel price hike, tough decision-Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said the decision to increase the price of petrol from N86 per litre to N145 per litre was a tough one for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Osinbajo spoke at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Abuja, during the public presentation of a book “Anatomy of Corruption in Nigeria, Issues, Challenges and Solution”, written by Alhaji Yusuf Alli (SAN).

    He told the gathering that several things that ought to have been done to address the sufferings and pains of Nigerians by the administration of President Buhari could not be done because of massive stealing and the depletion of Nigeria’s external reserves.

    He said: “I want to just quickly say that corruption as we all know is not just a social evil, it is an existential threat to our country. There is no doubt at all that unlike in other countries, people say there is corruption everywhere which is true, but I think there is one distinguishing feature for Nigeria and for many other country, it is that it is a threat that directly affects the lives and livelihood of everyone.

    “It is not just an evil, it is not just an immorality, it is existential because it could truly destroy lives and it has destroyed many lives and has continued to destroy the Nigerian economy.

    “And I think that the reasons are very obvious if you just take a clear example. All through the period when Nigeria was earning huge sums of money as proceeds from oil sales for almost five years, the external reserves of Nigeria remains much the same.

    “It did not increase at all despite the high earning, now we know also that we are investigating cases which showed that over $15 billion was lost in one type of contract alone. We are not talking of oil contract, we are talking of security-related contracts, $15 billion. We have not talked at all of oil contracts in several billions.”

     

  • NIC stops labour’s planned strike

    NIC stops labour’s planned strike

    • Orders maintenance of status quo as at May 17

    The National Industrial Court (NIC) has restrained the organised labour from proceeding with its planned strike over the increase in fuel price.

    NIC President, Justice Babatude Adejumo in an ex-parte ruling Tuesday also directed ‎the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the motion on notice filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN).

    Justice Adejumo gave the order after listening to Malami moved an ex-parte application.

    The judge said: “The defendants are hereby restrained from carrying out the threat contained in their communique issued on May 14th pending the hearing and determination of the ‎motion on notice filed on May 16.

    “It is the order of this court that status quo be maintained as at 17th May‎.”

    Listed as plaintiffs are the Federal Government and the AGF, while the defendants are the NLC and the TUC.

    Justice Adejumo also ordered that the processes in the case be served on the respondents within 24 hours and that proof of service be filed in the court

    He added: “It is the order of this court that non of the parties shall engage in any act, conduct, overtly, covertly on this matter pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”

    Justice Adejumo however announced the transfer of the case to another judge of the court for further hearing on the ground he would be engaged at the National Judicial Council and would not be able to take further proceeding on the matter.

    The NIC President said he was busy at the National Judicial Council and would not be able to go ahead with the hearing.

    The judge said he would prefer that the dispute be resolved amicably but that he was constrained to issue the order exparte because the respondents were not yet before him.

    He also said that he granted the order to make sure that people were not subjected to avoidable hardship.

    “I decided to take this case this morning because it is on an issue that will affect everybody. I don’t want people to be subjected to hardship. There will be scarcity of foods, people may die, students will engage in all sorts of activities. This is why I have to grant this order,” he said.

    The plaintiffs, had in the exparte application, sought an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the respondents from embarking on industrial action pending the determination of the originating summons.

    They also asked for an order of interlocutory injunction retraining the respondents from demonstration or engaging in any act that may disrupt the economic activities of the nation pending the determination of the originating summons.

    Malami had, while moving an exparte application, argued that it was in the national interest to stop the organised labour from shutting down the nation over last week’s increase in price of fuel.

    He cited Section 14 of the 1999 constitution as amended to justify his application to stop the strike.

    Malami argued that ‎no amount of damages could serve as compensation if NLC is allowed to shut down the economy.

    He said government undertook to pay the cost if the order turned out to be frivolous.

    The AGF argued that the balance of convenient was in favour of the government.

    He urged the court to determine: Whether the respondents have complied with the laid down condition precedent for embarking on strike‎; and whether there exist in law and in fact, the basis for which the respondents’ total closure of the economy could be justified.

    He said that labour met on Saturday and issued a communiqué wherein it gave government a three-day ultimatum to reverse the decision increasing fuel price.

    The AGF told the court that NLC had threatened to shut down the country if government failed to reverse the fuel price increase.

    Malami told the court that the respondents had threatened to close down all government offices, seaport, airports and markets.

    He said that ordinary and law abiding citizens would be subjected to hardship if the respondents were allowed to go ahead with their threat.

    Malami argued that the government was left with no alternative but to seek the intervention of the court.

    The AGF said that he got notice of the communique on Sunday and quickly filed an originating summons, a motion on notice and an exparte application to determine whether NLC’s decision was justified in the circumstance.

    He argued that the damage would have been done should the court refuse the exparte application.

    In an affidavit filed in support the motion, the AGF said: “That if the planned strike is allowed to go on, the Federal, State and Local Government will lose revenue worth billions of Naira, thereby causing untold hardship and ‎unimaginable security problems/challenges across the country.”

    He also said that labour had not complied with the laid down procedure for declaring a strike and had ‎not given the government notice of the plan to go on strike adding that government merely became aware of the plan through publication in the media.

    Malami said the Federal Government has no issue or disagreement with labour concerning the welfare or rights or condition of service with the different industrial unions and trade union congresses affiliated to NLC to warrant the threats to proceed on strike or causing a breakdown of law and order in the country from 17th May, 2016.

     

  • Noisy Reps set up panel to probe fuel price hike

    Noisy Reps set up panel to probe fuel price hike

    Kachikwu: it was inevitable

    Govt, Labour meet in Abuja

    LABOUR yesterday got more pleas to pull the brakes on its plan for a strike over the fuel price hike.

    Petrol price went up last Wednesday from N86.50 per litre to N145 – a decision, which the Federal Government said will save it from picking a N1trillion subsidy bill, ensure availability of petrol and create jobs.

    The House of Representatives urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to suspend the planned strike.

    The House urged the Labour unions to allow its ad hoc committee consult with other stakeholders over the issue after being briefed by Minister of State  (Petroleum Resources) Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

    The decision followed the adoption of a motion by Nicholas Ossai ( PDP, Delta ), who argued that  the sudden fuel price hike had led to some dislocations in many households.

    According to him, the hike has also led to protests by individuals, labour unions and civil society organisations (CSOs), and a planned industrial action by labour unions.

    Ossai requested that an ad hoc committee be set up to interface with all stakeholders and report back within five days.

    The House resolved that Labour should suspend its planned strike pending the outcome of the interface by the  Hassan Doguwa-led committee and the resolution of the House on its report.

    Last night, a government team led by Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir David Lawal was meeting with Labour leaders at the SGF’s office in Abuja.

    The meeting was ongoing as at 11.30p.m.

    Briefing the House, Kachikwu said with the new framework for petrol supply and distribution, the Federal Government had no other option than to adopt the current position.

    He said: “There is no provision for subsidy in the 2016 appropriation. As at today, the current PMS price of N86.50 gives an estimated subsidy claim of N13.7 per litre, which translates to N16.4 billion monthly.

    “Our best intelligence reveals to us that in the next 30 days, the following consequences are imminent if the situation was not addressed: inability of the three tiers of government to pay salaries or meet their financial obligations; increased scarcity of the product, leading to longer queues; continuous upward surge in the price of petroleum products across the nation as hoarding and smuggling continue.”

    According to the minister, the upstream sector that provides 80 per cent of the country’s revenue has been neglected over the years and is coming to a grinding halt. “We needed to go into a liberalised situation. We would have been spending more than we earned.”

    He said one of the strategies of the government is to eventually eliminate cash calls for joint venture projects by getting banks to invest in the projects.

    On the effect of the new price band, Kachikwu said: “The price band has gone into effect and the market has stabilised in a matter of days, in terms of product availability. The queues have virtually disappeared.

    “It is expected that smuggling and diversion will diminish substantially and we’ll continue to rely on security agencies for support on this development.

    “NNPC will no longer resort to federation barrels and will endeavour to meet its obligation to pay FAAC 100% of its entitlement from the 445,000 barrels per day timely in the coming months.

    “Initial indication revealed that marketers were returning to their supply obligations due to access to foreign exchange.”

    Members applauded the minister after his presentation and, thereafter, the Speaker allowed questions on a zonal basis.

    The lawmakers wanted to know why fuel was selling at N145 when the minister had said subsidy payment is N13.7 for every litre of N86.50 sold, which would have added up to just over a N100.

    Other lawmakers wanted to know why the increase was not channelled through the National Assembly, and why the government went outside the agreed amount of N120 with the NLC representatives at the stakeholders’ meeting held at the Villa.

    House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila said he expected the minister to put the problem in a global perspective to show that the situation was not peculiar to Nigeria.

    Before he was eventually allowed to brief the lawmakers, members of the opposition in the House of Representatives vehemently opposed the admittance of Kachikwu into the chamber.

    The minister had been invited to address the emergency meeting called by Speaker Yakubu Dogara to deliberate on the petrol price raise.

    There was uproar when plenary resumed and Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila moved a motion for the admittance of the minister into the Chamber.

    After the motion was seconded, the Speaker put the question to voice vote; the “nays” were more than the “ayes”.

    The Speaker ruled in favour of the “ayes” before banging the gavel, but shouts of “No, no; All we are saying, save Nigeria” and “APC shame” rent the air.

    After about three minutes, Gbajabiamila and Chief Whip Ado Doguwa consulted the Speaker.

    Deputy Speaker Yussuff Lasun, who was placating his colleagues and Minority Leader Leo Ogor later joined the consultation.

    The chanting and flag waving went on for about 20 minutes before the Speaker brought the House to order.

    “This is the beauty of democracy; we disagree to agree,” Dogara said before recognising Ogor who moved that the House should dissolve into an Executive session.

    The House went into the session without the minister being admitted.

     

  • Government, labour meet over fuel price hike

    There was a mild drama on Monday at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) during a meeting convened between the organised labour and the Federal Government to resolve the brewing crisis caused by hike in fuel price when the leadership of labour threatened to boycott the meeting if the factional leader of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, was allowed to be part of the meeting.

    The meeting earlier slated for 3:00pm did not start until 7:10pm when the SGF led other members of the negotiating team to the conference hall.

    The government delegation was led by the SGF, David Lawal and it included Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kackukwu, Minister of State for Solid Minerals, Abubakar Bawa Bwari, Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang.

    The labour delegation included President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, President of the Trade Union Congress, Bobboi Kaigama, General Secretaries of both the NLC and TUC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson and Comrade Simeso Amachree, Deputy President of the NLC and TUC, Najim Yaseem and Austin Etafo and the President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson.

    However, the factional leader of the NLC, Ajaero and his deputy, who is also the president of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, who were present at the SGF office were not allowed into the meeting as they were asked to stay out and await their turn to meet with the government team.

    The president of NLC and TUC led out their team from the conference hall of the SGF office, insisting that Ajaero and his team should not be part of the meeting since the issue for discussion was not about electricity and pleas by Dr. Kachikwu to get them into the meeting proved abortive.

    Addressing the meeting before going into a closed door section, the SGF said the decision to deregulate the petroleum sector was taken in the best interest of Nigerians, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari empathizes with Nigerians over the short time consequences of the decision.

     

  • Fuel price hike: Oshiomhole joins FG’s team

    Fuel price hike: Oshiomhole joins FG’s team

    Edo State Governor, Adams Oshoimhole, was on Monday drafted to join the Federal Government team seeking to resolve the crisis caused by hike in price of petrol.

    The Federal Government had last week increased the pump price of petrol from N86.50 to N145.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other unions have threatened to embark on strike if government fails to revert to the former pump price.

    To resolve the crisis, Oshiomhole, who was a former president of NLC, met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday.

    He was accompanied by the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige.

    The duo left the Villa on Monday afternoon for a meeting with the unions’ leaders at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

    When approached to speak on the crisis after the meeting with the vice president, Oshomhole told State House correspondents: “Sorry, we are already late for a meeting.”

  • Fuel price hike: Nigerians don’t need strike now – CAN

    The Northern branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Monday told the Federal government and organized labour union to abort the planned strike in the interest of Nigerians.

    The CAN Public Relations Officer in the region, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, who spoke with journalists in Kaduna, told the federal government and labour to  sheath their swords and safe poor Nigerians from further hardship.

    “We understand the challenge of the time, though we may frown at the process in which the deregulation was carried out, but it is not enough reason for us to repeal the deregulation now, we must stop the attitudes of going forward and backward.

    “Our plea to the masses, labour and the federal government is to stop the strike action, because it will not remedy the pains Nigerians are going through,” he stated.

    They also appealed to the federal government to address whatever problems that led to the fuel hike with human face and with all responsibility and humility.

    “Labour and government must go to the roundtable and hold discuss on what to do to improve the living conditions of the people they are representing.

    “Strike will only affect our economy negatively and it will not even do good to the people we want to protect. It would only worsen their condition,” CAN argued.

     

  • Fuel price hike: Government has no choice – Minister

    Fuel price hike: Government has no choice – Minister

    The Minister of Information, Alh. Lai Mohammed, on Monday said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has not let down Nigerians with the new fuel pump price of N145 per litre.

    He said the present government has no choice than to deregulate the petroleum sector.

    He said in 2015, the Federal Government paid N1trillion as subsidy, which amounted to one-sixth of the nation’s budget.

    He said there was no way the government can afford such a huge amount of subsidy again.

    He, however, claimed that the liberalization policy will lead to the creation of 600,000 jobs in the country.

    But he denied claims that labour leaders were deceived or tricked on the new pump price.

    Mohammed, who made the clarifications at a briefing of Bureau Chiefs in Abuja, gave six reasons for the new deregulation policy.

    The reasons are as follows:

    • To end the crippling fuel scarcity and ensure availability of products
    • Drastic fall in the price of crude oil
    • FG cannot afford N1trillion per year subsidy again
    • No funding or appropriation to pay N16.4 billion monthly subsidy
    • Renewed insurgency and pipeline vandalism reduce oil production from 2.2m bpd to 1.65m bpd
    • Foreign reserves have fallen

    The minister said: “As you are undoubtedly aware, a new price regime for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) was recently announced by the Federal Government. Many have been asking why this would happen at this time and what triggered the decision concerning the new framework for petrol products supply, distribution and pricing.

    “Gentlemen, we have no choice than to liberalize the price of petrol, if we are to end the crippling fuel scarcity that has enveloped the country, ensure the availability of the products and end the suffering of our people over the lingering scarcity.

    “Many have also tried to compare what happened in 2012, when the last administration increased fuel price, with the new price regime of 2016. Our answer to that is that there is no basis for comparison.

    “The truth is that the NNPC does not have the resources for, nor is it designed to meet this increase in supply. The result is the crippling fuel situation across the country. Pushed to supply 90 per cent of the products required for domestic consumption, the NNPC has continued to utilize crude oil volumes outside the 445,000 barrels/day allocated to it, thereby creating major funding and remittance gaps into the Federation account.

    “Also, the renewed insurgency and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta have drastically reduced national crude oil production to 1.65 million barrels per day, against 2.2 million barrels per day planned in the 2016 budget, further reducing income to Federation account and also affecting crude volumes for PMS conversion and impacting Federal Government’s forex earnings.”

  • Pilots, engineers, shun NLC, back govt on fuel price hike

    Pilots, engineers, shun NLC, back govt on fuel price hike

    Pilots and Aircraft engineers will not be part of the strike being called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the new fuel price, the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) said yesterday.

    The two trade unions are threatening to launch a strike on Wednesday if government refuses to reverse the new price modulation.

    But NAAPE said yesterday that its members won’t be part of the showdown and advised air travelers to go ahead with their travel plans.

    “As far as we are concerned, Nigerians should go ahead with their travel plans. The truth is that the industry itself is already being affected by the current challenges in the country and any move to shut down the aviation sector will lead to a total collapse of the sector,” NAAPE President, Isaac Balami, said.

    The association expressed support for the federal government’s resolve to deregulate the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry and welcomes the policy as a step in the right direction.

    It said although it was long overdue, it was better late than never.

    National President, Isaac Balami, who spoke for the association dismissed the subsidy scheme as extremely fraud-prone, adding that trying to reform the process was like “attempting to reform Satan (devil) – an impossibility task”.

    He asked the government to “use the money that will be saved to put in place infrastructures that will create jobs for Nigerians; ensuring that our refineries are working optimally, and encouraging local production to ameliorate the temporary hardship the citizen are going through.”

    He called for the local refining of aviation fuel, popularly called Jet A1 to help reduce the costs of operation and flight tickets, since fuel alone constitutes about 30 to 40 per cent of operational cost.

    Besides, he said government should look into the establishment of a national carrier as promised or strengthen the local domestic carriers as soon as possible, as the industry was currently at a standstill.

    “We need more jobs to be created for our pilots and engineers, while reiterating our unalloyed support for this novel and bold decision the federal government has taken to secure the future of Nigeria,” he said.

  • Herdsmen, fuel price hike, Biafra and worst angst ever

    Herdsmen, fuel price hike, Biafra and worst angst ever

    AFTER few public officials, especially the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, had suggested that the herdsmen troubling Nigeria were of foreign origin, President Muhammadu Buhari has in far away London finally succinctly addressed the matter. The herdsmen are indeed foreigners, he said, and those responsible for pillaging communities would not go unpunished. No one complains any longer that the president addresses salient national issues during his foreign trips. Perhaps the ambience is responsible. Neither Mr Arase, who has vigorously defended the thesis, nor the president, who has just latched on to the strange idea, has presented incontrovertible proofs showing how foreign attackers could penetrate Nigeria so deeply with foreign cattle unchallenged, knew the terrain so well, and had such lasting disagreements with many local communities that their famed ‘long memory’ prompted them to unimaginable bestiality.

    This sad and inconsistent thesis is compounded by the president’s intriguing response in Katsina to the issue of herdsmen trouble and agitation for Biafra. Speaking at the Emir of Katsina’s palace during his last visit to the state, the president seemed to find a tenuous link between the herdsmen crisis and the Biafra agitation. Said he: “I always say the civil war was fought for the unity of Nigeria because then we hadn’t even discovered oil, let alone enjoy it. But two million people were killed. The way the Sahara is advancing, with Boko Haram, growing number of people, and uncertainty over rainfall, in a land where we fought civil war leading to the death of about two million, for someone to just say he will chase us out? So where do we go?” It is not clear whether the president was misquoted. If he was not, he should like to clarify who the ‘us’ are that Biafra agitators want to chase out. Was it the rest of Nigeria? That would be untenable. Was it herdsmen or people living in the Sahelian belt? It was no doubt a curious and worrisome statement to make.

    So far, the herdsmen problem has assumed terrifying dimension only because government officials have demonstrated incompetence or conflict of interest. They claim the herdsmen are foreigners, and attribute their arms to the crises in Mali and Libya. Yet, leaders of cattle rearers associations in parts of Nigeria have owned up to fomenting reprisal attacks on the grounds that local populations and angry farmers provoked them. This was clearly the case in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State where herdsmen recently sacked many farming communities. What is also clear from the statements of the herdsmen is that the Fulani think like a transnational people operating like musketeers. An attack against one is an attack against all. They may come to one another’s aid; but it does not absolve local herdsmen of blame and responsibility. It is reckless and preposterous for any Nigerian official to make claims that even local herdsmen find ludicrous and specious.

    AS if the trouble from herdsmen is not enough, it is mystifying that the president is inexpertly handling the Biafra problem as well. Regardless of this column’s opinion of Biafra, he has repeatedly counselled that Biafra is an idea that cannot be crushed because of its location in the minds of its adherents. To tackle it would require much more than diatribe, threats and federal might. If Biafra military campaign were to be triggered today, its militants are unlikely to engage in open and direct confrontation. Its proponents would embark on the Iraqi, Afghanistan and guerilla-type of campaigns. It would be a cruel and unwinnable war. Is that the road Nigerian leaders want to impulsively travel? The problem is that there was no closure to the civil war. No amount of blackmail to the Igbo young who were not born before the war will eradicate the idea of Biafra until the country restructures and finds a closure to the recurring nightmare.

    And just as the whole country had transformed into a seething cauldron of troubles, the government caps the crises with a hike in fuel price from N86.50/l to N145/l. They’ll probably get away with it, and the unions, which are angling for negotiations, will have an ineffectual response. The economic imperatives on the ground do not favour the sustenance of former price regimes and paradigms. But what if the naira further plunges in value and crude oil prices begin to rise strongly? Can anyone guarantee there would be no further rise in prices of fuel and other goods? No one trusts the government to embark on a scientific and systematic response to the expected pauperisation of the people, whether the response comes in terms of palliatives or in terms of organised economic measures to shore up wages and employment. There is no history of that kind of salutary response in these parts. And it is not clear whether this government, which is groaning under old and retrogressive political and economic paradigms, can unleash the creative potential within all Nigerians.

    Nigeria is facing its worst moment of angst since the civil war. The problems are multifarious and spreading, but the language of the federal government is disturbingly full of threats and violence, making it hard for them to summon the honesty, ingenuity and realism needed to successfully tackle a problem poised to get worse in the coming months and years.