As FG Meets Labour Today...
It's Price Reversal or No Deal - NLC
NNPC depletes reserves on subsidy
By Mike Oduniyi, Chris Nwachuku in Lagos, Chuks Okocha, Ahamefula Ogbu and Juliana Taiwo in Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Cong-ress (NLC) said yesterday it would not enter into any form of negotiation with the Federal Government on any price equilibrium, declaring that it would only settle for reversal in the recent increase in fuel prices or go ahead with its October 17 sit at home protest.
The NLC posture came just as the Federal Government, in a bid to head off the planned nationwide protest against the fuel price hike, has invited Labour and other stakeholders in the downstream oil sector to a meting today.
However, as the October 11 date for the mass action draws nearer, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engineer Funsho Kupolokun, also yesterday re-iterated the need to continue with deregulation policy as the corporation has had to deplete its pre-January, 2004 cash reserve base put at N155 billion, to subsidize petroleum products prices.
THISDAY gathered last night that a meeting has been scheduled to hold today. It is expected to be presided over by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Hassan Lawal, and will include other stakeholders such as the marketers, officials of the NNPC, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) among others.
Sources told THISDAY that today's meeting, which has the backing of President Olusegun Obasanjo, will seek to commit NLC to withdraw the threat to embark on mass action while negotiation commences.
"Today's meeting is not essentially to discuss about the price of petroleum products. It is to engage all the stakeholders and work out an atmosphere for dialogue. Once the parameter for dialogue is established today, subsequent meetings will address the issue of price regime," a source disclosed.
It was further gathered that the presidency might not have empowered government representatives to the meeting to discuss a review of the prices. The target, said the source, is a commitment on the part of Labour not to embark on strike.
"If NLC accepts to withdraw the strike threat, government may review some of its decision and engage labour in future policy formulation especially in the area of palliative measures to cushion the effect of the price increase and subsequent price review," the source said.
However, NLC Acting General Secretary, Comrade Salihu Lukman told THISDAY that the organised labour was not opposed to dialogue, but noted that certain basic conditions must be met before any meaningful decision could be reached.
One of such conditions, according to him, is the reversal of the pump price to pre-September 23 rate. "The decision of the National Executive Council is clear. We are only mandated to dialogue with government or its agencies once the price is reverted to the rate prevailing before September 23," said Lukman.
The NLC scribe affirmed that they will attend today's meeting to ascertain government position and whether the foundation for dialogue has been created. "Of course, we believe in dialogue and will not hesitate to discuss with government once it is clear that the new price regime has been withdrawn. Outside this, we have no mandate to discuss or negotiate."
Also, at a news conference to mark the formal inauguration of the Abuja branch of the Labour-Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), NLC Acting President, Comrade Henry Adekwe, said that despite police directives that no protests take place in the state commands, NLC and Nigerians were not backing down from the strike as long as government refused to call a round table discussion.
"We want to restate our resolve to fight this continuous punishment in form of fuel price increases and we won't be broken by any agent of government.
"In line with the resolution of the NEC, the leadership of the Congress has continued to seek all avenues of constructive dialogue with the Federal Government aimed at a reversal of the increases, including eliciting the intervention of relevant institutions and men and women of conscience that can prevail on Mr. President.
"So far, there are no signals of willingness on the part of the Federal Government to respect the will of the people of Nigeria and reverse the price increases. Rather, government officials continue to beat the drums of war and insult out people.
"Particularly lacking in good faith has been the statements credited to the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Hassan Lawal, who accused Nigerian workers and trade unions of having lost focus," he said.
However, NLC continues its mobilisation campaign today in Lagos. The labour and civil society coalition led by Adams Oshiom-hole and Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti will meet with different organisations to brief them on the strategies for the mass action.
Already, by last night, the Assistant General Secretary in charge of NLC Operations in Lagos, Denja Yaqub said about 40 interest groups have signified their intention to participate.
It also raised alarm about plans by undisclosed people to disrupt the planned mobilisation campaign scheduled for Lagos today.
However, justifying the need for a full deregulation of the downstream oil sector, the NNPC GMD said that given the rate at which the corporation was dipping into its reserve base to subsidise petroleum products prices, it may be unable to pay salaries by the end of this month, if the trend was not checked.
Kupolokun made this known at a workshop on economic reforms and the civil socitey perspective on privatization, liberalization and deregulation, organised by the Civil Rights Congress.
He emphasized that if the management continues with the subsidy, it was only a matter of time before the NNPC went under and stressed the need for something to be done to check the trend.
He disclosed that after the downstream sector was deregulated in October last year, price of petrol was about $250 per metric tonne, adding that at a point, the price went up to$430 per metric tonne.
"We were carrying N16:50k loss per litre and later this came down to N14 per litre. This development translated to NNPC losing between N350 million and N400 million per day," he said.
Kupolokun explained that the option of subsidizing crude oil supplies to the corporation will only take the economy back to where it was coming from, adding that this approach had been tried in the past and that it did not work.
While noting that full implementation of the deregulation programme will ensure that new entrants come into and invest in the industry, he added that the programme will also guarantee cost recovery.
Amongst other benefits, he noted that deregulation will also ensure availability of petroleum products and lead to Nigeria becoming a hub for petroleum products distribution in the West African sub region.
"Unless we liberalise, development of the domestic gas market will be stunted and it is important to note that liberalization is all about job creation," he added.
Also sepaking at the workshop, Dr. Beko Ransome Kuti lamented that both government agencies and civil society have been speaking different languages, "this is a discussion of the deaf."
He disclosed that civil society has been tackling government policies on the downstream oil sector from the position of the suffering of the Nigerian people and not the artificial survival of the NNPC.
"You can not be talking about NNPC going under when government has excess crude oil money stashed away in a bank account,"he said.
In his contribution, Femi Aborishade, the secretary of the National Conscience Party (NCP) described the ongoing reforms in the downstream sector as a conspiracy against the Nigerian people.
"The more money we make the greater the suffering of our people. Crude oil is currently sold at over $50 per barrel; we have over N600billion as excess revenue from crude oil sales and over $12 billion in foreign reserves. Yet, the people are suffering," he lamented.
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), the umbrella body for senior workers in both public and private sector organisations, has requested for a meeting with the president over the continuous hike in the prices of petroleum products.
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