Fuel Price Hike: NLC, FG Resume Talks

Fuel Price Hike: NLC, FG Resume Talks

Adeboye   17:01:00   No comments:

The Nigeria Labour Congress led by Mr. Ayuba Wabba and the Federal Government will resume the suspended talks on the N145 fuel pump price on Wednesday (today).

The Director in charge of Press at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr. Samuel Olowookere, said in a statement on Tuesday that the meeting would hold by 2pm at the Conference Hall of Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

An invitation to the NLC to return to the negotiation table over the contentious increase in electricity tariff and the fuel pump price was delayed on Monday by the Ministry of Labour as a result of a scheduled meeting with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, which served a week-old strike notice on the government.

The NLC had called off the indefinite strike it called to protest fuel price hike on Sunday as a result of the intervention of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola TInubu.

While the strike was on, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, had said that the Federal Government would only resume the suspended talks with the Labour leaders if the strike was suspended.

Also, Olowookere said that the plan by PENGASSAN to embark on a nationwide strike by the midnight of Tuesday was suspended following the intervention of Ngige and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

He said Kachikwu briefed the conciliatory meeting on the issue of the Joint Venture Cash Call, the arrears of which had not been paid to the Joint Venture Partners which made the oil firms to issue a threat to lay off workers as a result of shortage of cash.

The minister was quoted as saying that the Petroleum Ministry was “restructuring the operational modalities of the Joint Venture Cash Call especially in view of the low oil prices.”

He was said to have assured the union, the JVCC partners and other stakeholders of some positive results during the next meeting scheduled for June.

“We all recall that this committee was headed by the late Hon. Min. of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. James Ocholi, but in view of the importance and the urgency of the committee, I will assume its full leadership in June to accelerate and bring its assignment to fruitful completion, part of which is to pass some oil-labour regulations into laws for the Petroleum Industry Bill,” Kachikwu was quoted as saying.

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Tinubu Meets Labour Leaders, Appeals For Suspension Of Strike

Tinubu Meets Labour Leaders, Appeals For Suspension Of Strike

Adeboye   19:39:00   No comments:

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has called on the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress to call off the ongoing strike over the increase in fuel pump price from N86 and N86.50k to N145.

The former Lagos State Governor pleaded with the President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, and other leaders of the congress to return to the negotiation table with the Federal Government to resolve the current industrial dispute.

Tinubu who was in company with the Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, Senators Marafa, Humkunyi Suleiman and others said his mission to the Labour House was to let peace reign.

He said, “I have come to appeal to you to suspend the action you have embarked upon and return to the negotiating table.”

Labour leaders present at the meeting were Wabba, the Deputy Presidents of the Congress, Peters Adeyemi, Nojeem Yarsin, the Chairman of the Labour and Civil Society Coalition, Prof. Dipo Fashina, a former Vice President of the congress, Isah Aremu and others.

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Buhari Showed Courage By Removing Subsidy - Tinubu

Buhari Showed Courage By Removing Subsidy - Tinubu

Adeboye   07:13:00   No comments:

All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday said the Federal Government’s removal of subsidy on petrol was necessary and inevitable.

He said a situation where bogus suppliers were paid huge sums for supplying nothing while long lines of queues remained was unsustainable, The Nation reports..
According to Tinubu, while the price of fuel was cheap on paper, there were hidden costs that made the subsidy regime an expensive and heavy yoke for the country.He said


“With dwindling revenue from oil due to the slump in global oil prices and a dwindling forex reserve, the country could no longer live in denial.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, after carefully weighing the options, decided to do what is right.
“In an act of courage, he removed the oil subsidy, thereby freeing the downstream component of this strategic sector of the economy from the distortions of price fixing,” Tinubu said.

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Fuel Price Hike: Reps Declare Support For FG, Beg NLC

Fuel Price Hike: Reps Declare Support For FG, Beg NLC

Adeboye   09:56:00   No comments:

The House of Representatives on Wednesday made a formal declaration of support for the decision of the Federal Government to remove the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, better known as petrol.

A litre of petrol now sells for N145 instead of N86.50k.

However, the government claimed that what it did was price increase and not the removal of subsidy or deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

On Wednesday, the House, which was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, backed the price hike.

The price hike had pitted the government against organised labour, as a faction of the Nigerian Labour Congress led by Mr. Ayuba Wabba, vehemently opposed it.

The group had called for an indefinite nationwide strike on Wednesday, though other labour groups, including the Trade Union Congress pulled out.

The House had intervened in a bid to resolve the dispute by summoning the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to appear before it on Monday.

After Kachikwu’s appearance, where he said the government would not reverse the new price regime, the House also invited labour leaders to hear their own side of the story on Tuesday.

An ad hoc committee chaired by the Chief Whip of the House, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, was mandated to interface with labour leaders.

The committee presented an interim report to the House on Wednesday, which was adopted wholesale by lawmakers.

In adopting the report, the House said it was in support of the price hike.

It added that it “overwhelmingly expressed solidarity towards deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry in the greater interest of the Nigerian economy and posterity.”

While supporting the price regime, the House urged labour to continue to “show understanding of the situation, while engaging in dialogue in the interest of its teeming membership and Nigeria.”

The lawmakers advised the “executive arm to ensure full and speedy implementation of the Appropriations Act, 2016, as therein lies much of the palliatives that will help in calming the current situation.”

Members applauded the political will of the current administration to remove subsidy, noting that it would save the country trillions of naira hitherto spent in the name of subsidising PMS.

Earlier, Ado-Doguwa had informed the House that the committee had an engaging session with labour leaders.

He said, “During its interactive session with organised labour, the committee sought to extract a commitment from organised labour to put off the intended action, but the representatives of the labour unions stated that they would not be able to give any immediate final response until they secured the consent of their state chapters.

“They categorically reiterated the massive hardship inflicted on the Nigerian worker by the recent developments in the petroleum downstream sector, which included sky-rocketing prices in markets both within and outside the oil and gas sector. They insisted on an assurance of reliable palliative measures to assuage the sufferings of the Nigerian workers.

“The committee unequivocally stressed the support of the House in the present efforts of government in sanitising the petroleum sector, and noted that the palliatives already contained in the Appropriations Act 2016, would allay the fears of the general masses of our country, cushion the effect of the deregulation initiatives and create the necessary peaceful environment conducive for a more rapid growth and development.”

Meanwhile, the South-South Zone of the All Progressives Congress has declared support for the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry.

The APC chairmen from the six states of the zone said this after a meeting with the National Vice-Chairman in charge of the zone, Hilliard Eta, in Abuja, on Wednesday.

The chairmen said their declaration became necessary in the light of the mixed reactions which greeted last Monday’s removal of petrol subsidy by government and the threat by organised labour to go on strike.

Those who attended the meeting were Chief Davis Ikenya (Rivers), Chief Tiwei Orunimighe (Bayelsa), Jones Erue (Delta), Dr. Ahmadu Attai (Akwa Ibom), John Ochalaag, (Cross River), and Ansekum Ojezua, (Edo).

Eta, while commending the chairmen for their thoughtfulness, said for all true lovers of Nigeria and democracy, supporting the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration was the best thing to do.

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Fuel Hike Is Consequence Of Corruption, Says Osinbajo

Fuel Hike Is Consequence Of Corruption, Says Osinbajo

Adeboye   21:45:00   No comments:

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the fuel hike from N86.5 per litre to N145 can be traced to the scarcity of dollars occasioned by the depletion of the foreign reserve.

The Vice-President said this at a book presentation of a book titled, ‘Anatomy of Corruption in Nigeria’ which was authored by legal luminary, Yusuf Ali (SAN), in Abuja on Tuesday.

Osinbajo added that it was corruption that made it impossible for Nigeria to build or maintain refineries over the years which has forced the nation to be import-dependent.

He said, “If you have no foreign currency, you have to import fuel. All of our refined petrol today is imported. A lot of problems that with the refineries are corruption related issues. If we repair our refineries today, we will still only be able to refine 40 per cent of our petroleum so we still need to import

“But the truth is that in the absence of foreign exchange, when you have to import your refined petroleum, what are you left with? I think it is important that when we look at corruption and its deleterious consequences, we must relate it directly to what we are experiencing all the time.”

Osinbajo said President Muhammadu Buhari fought against increasing pump price for several months but had to finally bow to pressure due to the economic reality.

He said the foreign reserve currently stands at about $27bn. He said if the $15bn stolen in the dubious arms deal had been available today, there would have been more dollars in the country and the value of the naira would have been protected.

Osinbajo said, “All through the period when Nigeria was earning over a $100-$115 from the proceeds of oil for a period of almost five years, the external reserves of Nigeria remained much the same. It did not increase at all despite the very high earnings.

“We know also that today we are investigating cases which show that over $15bn was lost in one type of contract alone. We are not talking of oil contracts but security related contracts. We haven’t talked at all about the several billions in the oil contracts.

“When you consider that Nigeria’s foreign reserves stands today at $27bn and you are investigating $15bn from one sector alone, that is over half of the entire reserves of a country.”

The Vice-President urged all Nigerians to continue to support Buhari in the fight against corruption. He dismissed claims that the corruption war was aimed at people of a particular tribe or religion.

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Senate Okays Fuel Price Hike, As Court Stops NLC’s Planned Strike

Senate Okays Fuel Price Hike, As Court Stops NLC’s Planned Strike

Adeboye   16:17:00   No comments:

The Senate on Tuesday after a closed-door session supported the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.

Twenty-four hours earlier, the House Representatives at its special session had asked the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to shelve its planned strike schedule ‎to start on Wednesday.

The Senate, however, urged the Federal Government to start the implementation of the palliative measures contained ‎in the 2016 Budget to ease the hardship of the subsidy removal on Nigerians.

Meanwhile, the National Industrial Court has told the NLC to suspend its planned strike pending the determination of a suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

Malami had gone to court to challenge the strike being planned by the NLC and TUC to protest the increase in the pump price of petrol.

The Federal Government had last week announced the increase in the cost of petrol from N86 to N145.

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