The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have jointly warned President Muhammadu Buhari not to be deceived that they have agreed to support the removal of fuel subsidy, adding that the organised labour did not give its backing to oil subsidy removal.
A joint statement signed by the NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and Comrade Bobboi Kagama, stated that the organised labour had not accepted any proposal of oil subsidy removal as reported in a national newspaper on Monday.
Besides, Wabba and Kaigama stated that both the NLC and TUC, the only two labour centres in the country, to which all other labour unions were affiliated, were not consulted by any committee, including the Transition Monitoring Committee on the issue of subsidy removal.
The NLC and TUC stated that their attention had been drawn to the report in which President Buhari was reported to have concluded a plan to totally remove fuel subsidy and use the proceeds for the provision of free and compulsory primary/secondary education across the country.
The report also claimed that the members of the organised labour in the country were consulted by the Transition Committee, made presentations on what should be done over the matter, adding that labour was part of the decision and had accepted the proposal of fuel subsidy removal.
However, NLC and TUC denied any involvement and challenged the Transition Committee to come out with the names of the labour leaders, who were part of the decision.
The statement read: “We would want to state unequivocally that at no time has anyone consulted us on the issue of the removal of fuel subsidy.We are certainly not a party to this and no one should put words in our mouth. We make bold to challenge the committee to mention the names of the ‘labour leaders’ who were consulted and who ‘accepted’ the position they have expressed for the public to know.
“Our position on the issue of the removal of fuel subsidy is unwavering. We recognise the corruption in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry orchestrated by government agencies in collusion with big-time business persons together with whom they have formed a cartel.
“We hold the view that in order to be able to deal with this situation effectively, government needs to break up this cabal by opening up the downstream sector of the petroleum industry to fair competition governed by ethics.”
They reminded the government that their mass protest in January 2012 against an increase in prices of petroleum products opened up a can of worms in the sector, prompting legal proceedings against some of the culprits.
Regrettably, they stated that till this moment, in spite of overwhelming and incontrovertible evidences against the culprits, nothing had been heard about the cases which gave prime opportunity for government to demonstrate its fight against corruption through diligent prosecution.
The statement read: “In light of the above, we urge President Muhammadu Buhari to muster the necessary political will, by not only opening up the sector to fair competition, but by ensuring diligent prosecution of all the accused. We remain convinced that the real solution to the crisis in the sector lies in ensuring that domestic refining is promoted.
“This can only be achieved if new refineries are built and the four existing ones made to produce at installed capacity, thus doing away with the need for importation of refined petroleum products. New pipelines should also be laid and the old ones refurbished to more efficiently channel the products to all parts of the country, instead of relying on carriage by tankers on our already over-burdened roads.”
