Daily Independent (Lagos)
Stella Odueme
23 December 2008
Lagos — Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has called on the Federal Government to ensure the reduction of the prices of petroleum products, considering the fact that the prices of crude oil have come down internationally.
According to a statement by the group's National Secretary, Chinedu Bosah, it would be standing economic logic on its head for the Federal Government to insist that it is not going to reduce petroleum prices despite the collapse of crude oil prices, because petroleum prices are regulated and not deregulated.
The group maintained that since prices have come down internationally, it is supposed to reflect in the local prices at home.
"Countries have reduced prices of petroleum products in line with the fall in crude oil prices. Most significant is the fact that countries that do not export crude oil have brought the prices downward, including our next door neighbour, Ghana," the statement read.
The group also noted that Nigeria is a major oil producing country without a functional refining ability, thereby, leaving room for a few privileged individuals to rake so much at the expense of the public.
ERC also accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of sinking $1.1 billion for turnaround maintenance of the four refineries at Warri, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, "and yet, the refineries are as still as epileptic as ever, thereby, laving the country no option than to import about 70 per cent of local consumable petroleum products.
"Yet, the EFCC and all it pretensions are yet to arrest anybody, let alone prosecute them. For obvious reasons, the refineries would never get to work optimally because we have a lazy bourgeoisie, whose preoccupation is just to buy and sell and not to provide industries.
The group, however, called on the Nigerian Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other pro-people organisations to convoke a meeting under the platform of LASCO, with the aim of demanding for the reduction in petroleum prices.
"From all available statistics, Nigerians are not supposed to be paying more than N35 per litre. Such meeting should also demand increment in workers' wages, since political office holders had overwhelmingly increased theirs," the statement added.
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