16 November 2009
Lagos lawyer, Mr. Mohammed Fawehinmi has warned that the planned deregulation of the downstream sector would cause inflation and suffering to the people.
Mohammed son of late Chief Fawehinmi gave the warning in a statement made available to Daily Champion last weekend. He queried how the Federal Government expended N600 billion on oil subsidy in 2008, and how much it hopes to spend in 2009 or save, if the subsidy is removed.
"My belief is that this deregulation would encourage and accelerate inflation; damage the economy; disrupt the value of the naira by reducing it to ashes; with the current policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the losses sustained by the banks in general, and the threat of strike by the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) over mass dismissal in banks, there would be a dangerous precedence by Federal Government and its respective agencies. We would then seem to heading for doom" he said.
Meanwhile, other concerned Nigerians have raised questions regarding government's insistence on the planned deregulation of the petroleum sector.
"Government has the will to deregulate, but does it have the will to fight corruption in the (oil) sector? How long does it take to build refineries and why is government not making public the names of those benefiting from the corruption?"
These were some of the queries the Labour team raised recently as the government listed what it called factors that inform its decisions on deregulation at a meeting with Labour.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), after the meeting, created a 10-man standing committee headed by the Deputy NLC President, Peter Adeyemi, to advise its NEC on government's stand. Other members of the panel include Emmanuel Aiyeoribe, Daniel Bissalla, Peter Akpatason, Kirin Mohammed, Mike Okeme, John Odah, Mrs. Bidemi Alafiatayo, Henry Odugala and Issa Aremu.
Daily Champion learnt majority of NEC members were not persuaded by government's line of argument.
Providing insights into why government must deregulate the downstream petroleum industry, the Minister of Finance, Mansur Muhtar, who addressed the meeting for about 45 minutes, declared that the much-touted buoyant Excess Crude Account from which the Federal Government draws money to finance critical sectors of the economy, which include payment of marketers who import fuel, has indeed shrunk to a mere $7 billion.
He added that while government is desirous of fulfilling its role of providing for the welfare of Nigerians, without the deregulation, it would only succeeded in lining the pockets of few privileged Nigerians who benefit from the collective miseries of the Nigerian people.
Muhtar also said while Labour's argument that government should provide infrastructure first before deregulation, he was however quick to observe that considering the present situation, such decision is considered a luxury because the money to finance the critical sector of the economy is not available.
His explanations: "We have to draw money from the excess crude account to pay the importers. I can tell you that one day, we will wake up to discover that we can no longer pay the bills even if we want to continue to subsidize. This is going to happen very soon, we have only $7 billion left in the excess crude account. Every time we go to meetings, governors complain and ask why the Federal Government is withdrawing money from the account, saying 'after all, our states are not benefiting from the subsidy and that at any rate, the state House of Assembly has not given approval for such deduction' even as the Federal Government is preaching due process and rule of law."
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has challenged security agencies in the country to urgently take proactive measures in blocking the leakages in the management of public funds.
He specifically challenged the nation's security agencies recently to code Nigeria's crude oil to prevent its theft through illegal lifting by international criminal gangs and their local collaborators, adding that at least half of the country's crude in the international market is stolen.
Delivering a lecture titled: "Towards effective budgetary provisions for the realization of the security component of the seven-point agenda" for participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 2 at the Institute of Security Studies, Bwari-Abuja, the Speaker said that the stolen crude results to loss of revenue and reserve whose duration will be shortened.
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nigeria is not just a land of contradictions,where a nation has so much in aboundance in both human and natural resouses yet her citezenry lives in abject poverty.there is no light,no good road,no water to use and the oll we have so much in aboundance is a curse for the nation.is deregulation the problem of naija now?all the trillions of naira that have been allocated and looted what has the govt done about that?the only are that excites our govt is any are that will inflict further pains on nigerians.honestly the only solution to naija problems is REVOLUTION.Nigerians lets arise and fight fight for our right.
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Active Discussions: Nigerian Petroleum Bill/ Deregulation