NLC warns FG against fuel subsidy removal

Posted by admin Headlines, Oil Politics Tuesday, May 5th, 2015

The Nigeria Labour Congress has warned the Federal Government against removing fuel subsidy in the country.

President of the NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, argued in a statement on Tuesday that the disagreement between the Federal Government and the marketers on the exact amount of money owed the marketers, indicated that the current fuel scarcity could be a ploy to remove fuel subsidy.

‎Wabba said the NLC’s opposition to the removal of the fuel subsidy had not changed.

He urged the Federal Government to settle debts owed marketers if any to address the issue of fuel scarcity and long fuel queues in the country.

The NLC President lamented that the long fuel scarcity had continued eat into the nation’s productive hours ‎as workers continued to spend long hours in search of fuel.

He stated that some people had taken advantage of the scarcity to exploit Nigerians, who were being made to p‎ay between N120 to N130 for a litre of fuel.

He said the Federal Government, which presides over the Petroleum Industry, had a responsibility to address the disturbing development.

He said, “This painful experience Nigerians have been subjected to has been exacerbated by the embarrassing tirade between the fuel marketers and the Federal Government, represented by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the actual amount owed the marketers.

“This protracted haggling by this major stakeholders even on the total amount owed, points to a conspiracy that perhaps, the scarcity may have been ignited by those clamouring for the removal of subsidy on petroleum.

‎”Our position on this has not changed as we remain opposed to the removal of petroleum subsidy.

“If government is truly owing marketers, they should pay them immediately as the long queues at fuel stations have led to loss of lots of productive hours since workers are either unable to get to work or spend long hours searching for fuel.

“The scarcity has also led to sharp practices with workers paying between N120 to N130 per litre at some filling stations. For those commuting by public transport, they now pay more to get to work even when there are no increases in salaries.”

Wabba added that the NLC was worried about the worsening scarcity of fuel in Abuja, the South-West ‎and other states of the federation

-Punchwp_posts