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| President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Abdulwaheed Omar |
Labour and civil right groups as well as the opposition Congress for Progressive Change, condemned the Federal Government’s planned withdrawal.
President Goodluck Jonathan in a covering letter of his budget proposal to the National Assembly on Tuesday had told the National Assembly that the removal of subsidy on fuel would commence with the 2012 budget.
The groups, including the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Campaign for Democracy and the Human Right Monitor, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of implementing an agenda of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
They warned that the move would result in mass protests nationwide.
In spite of the criticisms, however, there are indications that the planned removal of subsidy on fuel may be supported by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
In the PDP manifesto titled, “Programme and Policy Trust 2011 – 2015,” the ruling party says its plan will be to “optimise upstream and downstream oil sectors for a better role in the economy by increasing the level of oil reserves, expand exploration activities in onshore/offshore frontiers and liberalise and deregulate the industry with increase local content.”
The party went further to say that the only way to achieve this would be to “complete the deregulation of the downstream sector.”
But the two umbrella labour bodies, the NLC and the TUC, said the move would further impoverish Nigerians.
Attempts to increase fuel pump price could have dire consequences - Labour
General Secretary of the NLC, Mr. Owei Lakemfa, and President General of the TUC, Mr. Peter Esele, said in separate telephone interviews on Wednesday that attempts to increase the fuel pump price could have dire consequences.
While Lakemfa warned that the move would only anger Nigerians, Esele said that Nigerians would not accept the increase.
Lakemfa alleged that the government was embarking on an increase in the fuel pump price in January in compliance with the dictates of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The NLC secretary general said, “The Federal Government has been unable to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians. The role of government is to protect and defend the interest of its citizenry but this government is not doing that. The government is unable to provide the basic necessities of life.
“This move is to push Nigerians to anger; Nigerians should not accept it; it is a pity that after 51 years of independence, the leadership of this country is taking instructions from the IMF and the World Bank.
“NLC will mobilise the rest of the country to resist any move by the government to increase the price of petroleum products. This is totally unacceptable.”
On his part, Esele warned the Federal Government against further provoking Nigerians with the issue of fuel price increase, saying ‘whatever they see they should take.’
He said that labour gave conditions for the commencement of the deregulation of the downstream sector of the economy which had not been met.
Esele said that while there was corruption on the issue of the application of the petroleum subsidy in the country, the government had not been able to bring any of the culprits to justice.
He said, “We have always talked about deregulation, we wish them the best. Whatever they see, they should take. We gave conditions for deregulation; we agreed that there is corruption in the handling of the issue of subsidy but how many people have been brought on the subsidy matter?
“The price of crude oil is on the low between 70 to 75 dollars and we are talking about increasing the fuel pump price.
“What is even the safety net that they are talking about; how do we monitor it; how are you going to ensure that the money that will be accrued from deregulation will be used for the intended purpose?
“This is not going to be about me and you, it not going to be about Esele and Omar, it is going to be what Nigerians feel about this move.
“At the end of the day, it is for Nigerians to accept whether to pay N150 for a litre of fuel with effect from January next year.”
It'll only benefit people in government; Resist the hike - Campaign for Democracy, CPC
Condemning the plan, the President of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, said it would only benefit people in government.
She said, “It (government’s explanation) is an alibi to hoodwink the unwary to increase the fuel prices. The masses of this country must not allow it because it will spell doom for them. It will only make the people in the circle of the President to be smiling to banks.”
“All the trillion and billions they have been making, what have they been doing with them? It will not alleviate the suffering of the poor, but add to their burdens.”
The CPC, called on Nigerians to resist the planned hike.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, who spoke on behalf of the party in a telephone interview, described the Federal Government action as a “betrayal”.
He said it was unfortunate that the leadership of the country would be listening to financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank, instead of Nigerians.
He said, “Instead of relieving Nigerians of their burden, this government is out to add to their loads. This government is a government of deceit.
“Did they tell Nigerians that their suffering would be doubled during the electioneering campaign? Did they tell them that their currency would be devalued?
“It is unfortunate that the government would prefer to listen to foreigners instead of listening to Nigerians. Perhaps, this could be one of the reasons why the World Bank released (Minister of Finance) Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to us, to come and add to our troubles.”
Subsidy removal is anti-people and can fuel more violence; Abandon it - HRM, CNPP
Also, the HRM on Wednesday in Kaduna condemned the planned fuel subsidy removal as anti-people. According to the group, such a decision in the face of acute poverty and mass unemployment will breed more violence and chaos.
The HRM Executive Director, Mr. Festus Okoye, in an interview with one of our correspondent said the increase of fuel price would worsen insecurity in the country by creating an army of angry youths. This, he added, could lead the country to violence and lawlessness.
Okoye, who is also the coordinator of the Independent Electoral Monitoring Group, said, “The issue of impending removal of fuel subsidy is coming at the wrong time. There is already an atmosphere of insecurity all over the country accentuated by the issues of kidnapping, terrorism and so on.
“Government should not impose an additional burden on the Nigerian people that will also create additional insecurity. The people are already poor and are suffering from acute poverty; there is already unemployment which is fuelling the atmosphere of kidnapping, destitution and terrorism. If you hike the price of fuel again, what you are saying is that you want to create an additional army of angry people in this country.
“So I think that the government should take these things easy and should not do things that will lead to general lawlessness in this country.”
The Congress of Nigerian Political Parties, through its National Publicity Secretary, Osoita Okechukwu, also urged the Federal Government to abandon the plan.
It said, “With the uttermost sense of responsibility, highest consideration for the survival of our fledgling democracy and the need to save the little Nigerians benefit from our God-endowed oil resource; we candidly appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to drop the idea of fuel subsidy removal.”
The group described it as “the Washington Consensus economic model” which it advised should be jettisoned for the Nigerian Consensus
But the PDP in Edo State said the Federal Government owed the masses more explanations on the fuel subsidy removal.
The State Chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, said that there was need to explain how the planned removal would impact positively on the economy and the lives of the citizenry.
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