Labour unions have described the federal government’s
decision to suspend the removal of petrol subsidy as the “best option”.
The federal government had earlier planned to stop subsidy
payments on petroleum products from July — but on Monday, a postponement was
announced due to “high inflation and economic hardship”.
Subsidy or under-recovery is the underpriced sales of
premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol.
Commenting on the development, Benson Upah, head of
information, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said the union is glad that the
government “has seen the light and decided to do the right thing”.
He said the removal of petrol subsidy “would have set the
country on fire”.
“There would have been an instantaneous reaction. Of course,
we would have been glad to coordinate those reactions,” he said.
“But happily, they have begun to see the light. Our advice
would be that they should take a lesson from the document we gave them on the
so-called fuel subsidy removal.
“The answer cannot be
far from domestic production.”
Upah said the decision would reduce the corruption in the
system while he called on the government to fix the existing refineries or
build new ones instead of importing refined petroleum products.
TUC: THE PLAN WAS
ILL-TIMED
Nuhu Toro, secretary-general of the Trade Union Congress
(TUC), described the government’s decision as a good move.
“Though it’s coming
late but the federal government’s decision to suspend the move to remove fuel
subsidy has alluded to the fact that such harsh economic policy ought to have
been a product of social dialogue which was not done,” he said.
“We told Nigerians earlier on that the policy is ill-timed
and is not acceptable. So it is good that the government has done a U-turn
because the policy cannot be forced down our throat.”
He added that refurbishing the existing refineries and
production of petroleum products in Nigeria is in the best interest of the
country.
“First, it would create jobs, make the petroleum products
available for consumption and probably reduce the price of the products,” Toro
said.
“It will also
guarantee foreign direct investment and make Nigeria a better place.
“We are confused that our refineries are not working and we
have asked over time, why are the refineries not working.
“So there is a strong
need for a deliberate effort by the incoming government to ensure that our
refineries work.
“All the monies they claim go to the process of deregulation
can actually be utilised to make our refineries functional.”
He urged the incoming government to leverage social dialogue
on issues that affect Nigerians, adding that the voices and interests of
Nigerians should be accommodated.
“Policies should not just be drafted overnight and pushed
through people’s throats. Nigeria belongs to all of us,” he said.
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