Rising from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has told Nigerians that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) does not have what it takes to import petrol that can effectively saturate the country and end scarcity.
The group argued that the current situation in which the Corporation is the sole provider of fuel and has been absorbing subsidies is not healthy for the country.
TUC therefore advised the government to restore NNPC to its statutory roles to give way for industry players to resume their businesses.
In a communiqué, TUC made it clear that the first step towards steady supply of petrol in Nigeria is for the Federal Government to begin the immediate payment of all outstanding subsidy claims owed petroleum marketers under the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency-administered Petroleum Support Fund.
This will among other things; avoid consequential job losses, which the nation could least afford.
Major parts of the communiqué said “These delays are also stopping the payment of wages/salaries in the downstream sector in a scary dimension, which must not be allowed to degenerate.
“It is expected that the government would engage the marketers as social partners under a special intervention arrangement that enables product marketers to purchase foreign exchange at concessionary rates from the Central Bank of Nigeria. This will keep the prices at their current level as well as encourage more participants.
“Government is called upon to revamp the public owned refineries as well,” the national Executive Council of TUC noted.
