Govt restores subsidy for North-bound fuel
- Labour may picket filling stations
From Mohammed Abubakar, Segun Ayeoyankan, Mathias Okwe (Abuja) and Yetunde Majekodunmi (Lagos)
THE Federal Government yesterday doused tension in the oil sector as it restored the one naira bridging cost on every litre of fuel transported to the hinter land.
The removal of the subsidy led to a three-day strike action by the Northern Zone chapters of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO). The union yesterday called off the strike following the restoration of the subsidy.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government (FG) and oil marketers to revert to the agreed new rates of N49 per litre in Lagos and N51 for outside Lagos.
The union's suspension of its strike is contained in a statement issued at the end of the stakeholders' meeting.
The joint statement signed by Messrs. Lawal Isah (NARTO), Dayyabu I. J. (Petroleum Tankers Drivers Association) and Mantu Isah (Palliatives Committee) read in part: "The stakeholders agreed to the restoration of the N1 bridging claims to ensure uniformity of prices throughout the country."
It continued: "The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should ensure direct supply of products to IPMAN facilities.
"In view of this, the strike action by the tankers drivers has been called off," it stated.
In a related development, the chairman of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi yesterday at the board meeting expressed satisfaction with the progress of the negotiations and salutes the courage of NLC over the development.
He said PPPRA will meet in two weeks to review the process.
The NLC reacting to the N1 bridging cost in a statement signed by its secretary-general, John Ejoha Odah, said: "The union will lead a mass movement against the petroleum marketers nationwide if they do not revert to the petroleum prices that were recommended by the Senator Mantu-led Committee on Palliatives."
In the letter addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette, the NLC said it had received report from most parts of the country, including Abuja about the acute shortage of petroleum products.
The NLC said it had also discovered from independent investigations that "the marketers in collusion with PPPRA have created artificial scarcity of the petroleum products."
It added: "The reality we face in the country today is that the Federal Government has left the citizens at the mercy of marketers who are playing their traditional role of shylocks."
While asking the FG to call the PPPRA and the market to order, it declared: "If by December 15, 2004 the prices have not been reversed, the NLC will lead the populace across the country to enforce the prices."
The letter stated further: "We wish to emphatically state that it is the duty of government to ensure unencumbered supply of petroleum products at the current agreed rates."
NLC also accused the government of allowing the present manipulation of product supply with the objective of blackmailing Nigerians to abandon currently agreed prices with the Senator Mantu Committee: "We also regard this as an attempt to frustrate the work of the Senator Mantu-led committee and with it the imperatives for stabilising prices.
Meanwhile, with the bitting fuel scarcity entering its second day yesterday, there were indications that Abuja workers may embark on a sit-at-home protest.
This is because movement into and around the city had become tedious, difficult and expensive, as commuters remained stranded at bus stops.
The scarcity became acute on Tuesday following the strike action by IPMAN and NARTO.
Among others, member of the two associations embarked on the strike to protest-recent decision by the PPPRA to withdraw the N1 bridging allowances to them.
Though IPMAN started its strike on Sunday, the joining of the solidarity strike by NARTO on Monday escalated the situation.
In Abuja, since Tuesday, the long queues at filling stations snaked into roads.
But unlike Tuesday when its cost of transportation within and around the capital city was normal, the situation yesterday took a worst dimension as transporters who had fuel charged almost double the amount of the regular fare.
For instance, a drop from Wuse Old Market to Area One city centre by bus, which used to be N30 went up as high as N70 while taxi cabs charged up to N80 per drop.
At the Federal Secretariat workers who spoke on the situation warned that, unless the situation was brought to normal, they may not be able to come to work until "government does some things."
It was gathered that as late as 2 p.m. yesterday, some workers were still trying to make their ways to their offices, particularly, those who commute from the satelite towns around the FCT.
The situation was so bad that fuel went up to as high as N1,000 per gallon (four litres) from the Tuesday's N1000 per gallon and the product were being hawked near the filling stations.
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