•Minister’s ‘lamentation is rationalisation of criminality’
Labour yesterday rejected the government’s argument over the planned removal of fuel subsidy.
The NLC reinstated its opposition to the plan, which the government says will bring in more cash for better services. But its opponent insist it is a move to further impoverish Nigerians.
President Goodluck Jonathan and Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke are justifying the proposal.
Mrs Alison-Madueke said in Perth, Australia on Tuesday that the date for the commencement of the subsidy withdrawal had not been fixed.
She said the government would stay action on it, until consultations with Nigerians are concluded.
Besides, the government will raise a panel of eminent Nigerians to manage the cash that will be saved from the withdrawal of subsidy.
This, according to the minister, will encourage transparency and efficiency. Besides, it will, she said, ensure that the cash is spent to better the people’s lot.
But the NLC, in a statement yesterday by its President Abdulwaheed Omar, rejected the government’s argument.
Labour accused the minister of not speaking the truth. “These are untrue statements calculated to mislead the international community and to lure Nigerians away from the on-going mobilisation against this anti-people policy,” the workers said.
The NLC recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan, in his letter to the National Assembly on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework of his administration stated categorically that the fuel subsidy would be removed as from and that the take off date is January 2012.
The NLC added that the President, on his way to the Commonwealth Summit, to which the Petroleum Minister accompanied him, reportedly said fuel subsidy must be removed because the alternative is the collapse of the economy.
Labour said the workers’ body will not relent in its mobilisation to resist “this policy that will further impoverish the citizenry”.
The statement said: “In any case, the issue at stake is not whether the Jonathan administration is yet to take a position or is confused as to what decision to take, the patriotic issue is that fuel subsidy should not be removed.
“The fundamental issue is not the per-second denials of government officials, but that the Jonathan administration should side with the Nigerian people.
“It should be noted that the whole debate which has pitched government and its cronies against the Nigerian people, was started by the Federal Government, which is still expending huge public funds on this manoeuvre.
“The position of the NLC is that our oil resources which should be an advantage to the country, should be used for the benefit of the people; that as Nigerians, we should have comparative advantage on prices of petroleum products over citizens of non-oil producing states.
“The NLC rejects the Petroleum Minister’s lamentation that government cannot check the fraud in subsidy because ‘… we are not in a military regime, the market forces of supply and demand has to be allowed to a certain extent.’
“We think that this is a rationalisation of criminality and an admission of failure. We do not need a military regime, to deal with criminality, what we need is a democratic process of bringing culprits before a court of competent jurisdiction and dispensing justice.
“The minister’s announcement that a Think Tank is being proposed by government on the subsidy issue is laughable as government should have done so and thought through the process before announcing subsidy removal.
“Also, her claims that government wants to consult “stakeholders” on the issue is like putting the cart before the horse; that should have been a basic step before government announcement of its decision to remove oil subsidy.
“Her announcement that the subsidy to be removed would be used for road works, public maintenance, mass transportation, youths skill development, maternity and child care is gimmickry;
what are the huge resources of the country, which are at the disposal of government used for?
“The reality is that despite the trillions of naira budgeted annually for these basic needs, the roads remain in a deplorable state, public maintenance is absent, mass transportation is non-existent, youths are abandoned as are the public hospitals leading to high mother and child mortality rates.
“The Petroleum Minister also announced that the proceeds of the subsidy removal will be managed by Nigerians of integrity. The question is, who are those managing the national economy and the annual budgets; if they are not Nigerians of integrity, why not handover the economy to such Nigerians?
“Recreating a DIFFRI as General Ibrahim Babangida did or a Petroleum Trust Fund as General Sani Abacha did, is disingenuous. Government should simply leave its induced oil subsidy in place.
“The Minister’s statement that ‘We (Jonathan administration) cannot please all the people all the time’ rings hollow. While this is a truism, the removal of oil subsidy will displease 99 per cent Nigerians. If government disproves this, it should subject its fuel subsidy removal to a referendum,” the NLC President said.
The government claims that subsidy – of about N1.2 trillion, according to its officials – has benefited only a few individuals to the detriment of the generality of Nigerians for whom it is meant. It promised to plough back the cash saved from subsidy withdrawal to provision of infrastructure.
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