Labour, CNPP, David-West kickEx-minister says subsidy not realIT is a policy that is still being considered. But a picture of thegrim reactions the removal of subsidy on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, may trigger even before its implementation in 2012 has emerged.The Federal Government's move is set to draw much opposition from organised Labour. It claimed yesterday that it would only inflict more hardship on the Nigerian populace, coupled with poor infrastructural facilities that are expected to aid economic activities in the country.The chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Lagos State Chapter, Tunde Ogini, told The Guardian yesterday that the move was against the wish of Nigerians and that it might worsen the bad economy.Ogini said: 'The position of PENGASSAN and NUPENG is that we cannot give in to the removal of subsidy, if the necessary things are not in place. Our people are suffering so much, workers are being sacked everyday because the companies that employed them could not break even. Some of the petroleum marketers cannot import product, they rely on what is allocated to them and this is too small from what they are out to sell.'Now that petrol is sold for N65 and government is subsidising it heavily, our fear is that if the landing cost should go up after removal of subsidy, what is going to be the fate of Nigerians when our refineries are not good' It is not that the initiative is very bad, but what we are saying is that government should endeavour to put the infrastructure in place, the refineries should be fixed while new ones are built, the roads be re-constructed so that Nigerians can feel the impact of the removal.'The President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Omar, has been at the fore-front of the campaign against subsidy removal, warning the Federal Government to desist from the plan or face the wrath of workers.He said: 'Every effort will be put in place by the masses to scuttle the planned removal. It is unacceptable and we Nigerians must resist such move.'Labour had argued that the move would translate to Nigerians paying more for petrol as the pump price may rise to N120 from the current regulated price of N65 per litre.But the 36 state governors of the federation are for the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy in order to shore up their revenue base. The Senate has, however, kicked against the move even though President Goodluck Jonathan thinks that the subsidy would be removed from January 2012, to save about N1.2 trillion incurred on subsidy yearly.The petroleum marketers that are directly engaged in the fuel business are divided over the development.The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) said that they were in support of full deregulation, which would include the removal of subsidy.The Executive Secretary, MOMAN, Mr. Femi Olawore, told The Guardian yesterday that subsidy was the bane of the nation's economic development, adding that the Federal Government did not have the money to continue paying fuel subsidy because it was an unnecessary drain on the revenue of government.He explained that in the short run, there might be problems associated with the high cost of food in the country and that the Federal Government must create palliatives.However, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said it was waiting for an official directive from government and demanded to know the modalities of removing the subsidy before commenting on the move.General Secretary, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, told The Guardian yesterday in Lagos that the association was yet to take a position on the move, 'we have to see the modalities before we can take a position. IPMAN has not been officially informed about the removal,' he said.The NLC has not given an official reaction to the planned removal of subsidy. This comes as the Trade Union Congress (TUC) is strategising on its reaction to the move.The President General of TUC, Peter Esele, told The Guardian yesterday on phone that the removal of fuel subsidy would not be an NLC or TUC fight but for all Nigerians.He said: 'We are strategising on how to respond to the issue. But I must say here that the fight against deregulation is not NLC or TUC affair alone but that of the entire Nigerians to spearhead. If you know that you are not happy about the removal, you join us in the streets or you stay in your bedroom if you are happy about it.'Responding to a question on why Labour was not reacting to the plan, Esele said since the Federal Government had proposed January 2012 as the take-off date, 'we are joining them to do the countdown. We will see if Nigerians will accept a rise from N65 to N150.'Efforts made to speak with Chris Uyot, Head, Information and Public Relations of the NLC, proved abortive as his mobile telephone was not reachable.The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday opposed the proposed removal of the fuel subsidy, appealing to the Federal Government to drop the idea for the survival of the fledgling democracy.The National Publicity Secretary of the conference, Osita Okechukwu in a statement yesterday, explained that allowing the proposed increase would further impoverish suffering Nigerians who have given their all to the survival of the country.According to a former Minister of Petroleum, Prof. Tam David-West, the Federal Government's claim that it is subsiding petroleum products is a fraud geared at impoverishing Nigerians.He insisted that if the three Nigerian refineries are allowed to work at installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, the price of PMS would not exceed N45 per litre.Similarly, the Rivers State TUC chairman, Chika Onuegbu, said if the government planned to remove the fuel subsidy, they should come up with specifics of how to ensure that the local refining capacity is increased such that in the next five years, for instance, Nigeria can refine 100 per cent of her local requirements for refined petroleum products.David-West told The Guardian in Port Harcourt that a mafia, which serves as proxies for highly-placed Nigerians, have sabotaged the three Nigerian refineries so that they can continue to import petroleum products into the country where they make outrageous profits at the expense of ordinary citizens.'They must not dare it. If Goodluck Jonathan's government is for the people, they must not dare to increase the price of petroleum products. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was a Petroleum Minister before he became Head of State. I was a Petroleum Minister under him and we have declared publicly that there is nothing like subsidy. All these talks about subsidy is a fraud,' he said.He noted that if the government had revived the three refineries and allowed them to work at installed capacity, there would be no claim of subsidy and justification for upward price review.David-West challenged President Jonathan and the Ministers of Petroleum and Finance to publish the names of all Nigerians involved in the importation of petroleum products into the country since August 1985.He warned that it would be inhumane for ordinary Nigerians to be subjected to another price hike that would worsen their living standard due to government's own recklessness and irresponsibility .On Tuesday, the Federal Government disclosed that it might propose N4.8 trillion as expenditurefor the 2012 fiscal year just as the government proposed $75 per barreloil benchmarkIn the 2012-2015Medium Term Expenditure Frame-work (MTEF) forwarded to the National Assembly by President Jonathan, he said that 'although aggregate expenditure is expected to increase from N4.8 trillion in 2012 to N5.18 trillion in 2015, concerted efforts are being made to make savings from overheads as allocations will be frozen from 2015. Capital spending will increase marginally from N1.32 trillion to N1.84 trillion in 2012 to N1.64 trillion in 2015 as government intends to leverage on Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements to supplement capital allocations from the budget.'The President continued: 'A major component of the policy of fiscal consolidation is government's intent to phase out the fuel subsidy beginning from 2012 fiscal year. This will free up about N1.2 trillion in savings, part of which can be deployed into providing safety nets for poor segments of the society to ameliorate the effect of the subsidy removal.''The president added that the accrual from the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) would be used to augment funds for the critical infrastructure.
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