The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) on Tuesday disagreed on the full deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector and the removal of petrol subsidy.
While the NLC insisted that subsidy should only be removed after rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries, the marketers argued that continuing the subsidy regime was no longer feasible due to current economic realities.
Both groups made their views known during a panel session at the virtual 2021 Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF).
The topic of the session was : “Deregulation of the downstream Oil Sector in Nigeria-What it means in reality.”
NLC President,Mr Ayuba Wabba, said labour’s position was that the Federal Government should make the refineries operational before ending subsidy on petrol in the interest of ordinary Nigerians.
Wabba, represented by Mr Olawale Afolabi, General Secretary, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, said many states have refused to pay the N30,000 minimum wage while some workers have also lost their jobs.
“We believe that fixing the refineries will create more jobs and will help us save the huge foreign exchange we are wasting away on importation of petroleum products.
“We don’t think it should be difficult to fix the refineries before full deregulation because we are not against deregulation,” he said.
According to him, there are several options open to government including reducing the cost of governance, curbing smuggling of petroleum products and setting up retail stations in some West African countries.
Afolabi said the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) provides a unique opportunity for the government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to explore the option.
He said the government had earlier promised to procure gas-powered mass transit buses to mitigate the impact but was yet to fulfill the promise made to labour.
However, Mr Tunji Oyebanji, Chairman, MOMAN maintained that full deregulation of the downstream sector would help the government save the billions spent on subsidy which could be channeled to other critical sectors.
He said deregulation would increase more investment especially with the taking off of the AfCFTA which would give Nigerian businesses opportunities to expand.
The MOMAN chairman also disclosed that Nigeria had the cheapest fuel price among its African neighbours which encourage smuggling of the product across its borders.
Oyebanji said: “The revenue of government has declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic and continued payment of petrol subsidy is no longer feasible.
“We must accept that reality as a people because government cannot continue to borrow for consumption at the detriment of infrastructure such as roads,railways and hospitals.”
