We’ll hold governments more accountable – NLC
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to hold governments at all levels accountable for it actions and inactions in 2018.
NLC president Ayuba Wabba stated this yesterday in his New Year message to Nigerian workers.
Speaking on fuel scarcity and the petroleum industry, Wabba said that for three weeks now, Nigerians have witnessed one of the worst shortages in the supply of petrol in the history of the country, in spite of federal government’s repeated claim that with the complete removal of subsidy on petroleum products, scarcity of petroleum products would become a thing of the past.
The NLC president said, “We have therefore in the last few weeks watched with dismay the unfortunate blame game, accusations and counter-accusations between petroleum marketers: Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on who is responsible for the current scarcity.”
He said that the position of the congress regarding the prevailing situation in the petroleum industry remains constant, which is that the crisis in the industry is “squarely due to the inability or refusal of our ruling elite to refine all our petroleum needs in Nigeria.”
He said, “We are the only major producer of crude oil in the world that depends on importation of refined products from abroad. As long as this remains the case, Nigerians would continue to be subjected to this intermittent scarcity.
Wabba said it was on the basis of its conviction that the congress went on national protest in May 2016, following the 66 percent increase from N86.50 per litre to N145 per litre, in the price of petrol by the current government in the name of total removal of subsidy.
“For us in the congress, and for majority of working people in Nigeria, the hope placed on the capacity of President Buhari to bring about positive change is being undermined by his government’s inability to address the infrastructural deficit and other related problems in the oil industry, such as making our existing refineries work at optimal capacity by refining products for domestic consumption.
“Not only is government unable to achieve this for almost three years now, but moving forward more refineries, especially modular refineries which can be built between 12 and 18 months are required to address the reoccurring challenge of fuel scarcity and price hike in Nigeria and stop the exploitation of ordinary Nigerians. The inherent corruption in the system has made this impossible for more than three decades and should be addressed headlong,” he said.
On the tripartite national minimum wage negotiating committee recently inaugurated by President Buhari, Wabba urged the committee to expeditiously conclude its assignment, saying a new national minimum wage has been due for over a year now.