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As panel on fuel price hike runs into a hitch: Watch your utterances �Obasanjo warns Mantu ...summons him
Musa Simon Reef and Bukola Ojeme
The 33-member committee set up by the Federal Government to work out palliatives to cushion the effect of the new fuel price may have suffered a set back as its chairman, Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, appeared to have incurred the wrath of President Olusegun Obasanjo over his utterances since his appointment.
Not comfortable with the development, the President was said to have summoned Mantu to Aso Rock and warned him seriously to adhere strictly to the brief of his assignment.
The summoning of the Deputy Senate President, Sunday Punch reliably learnt, followed statements credited to the Deputy Senate President that the committee was working out measures to provide all-embracing solutions to perennial increases in the prices of petroleum products.
Mantu had during an interactive session with mediamen, shortly after the body was set up, said that the committee would take a wholistic view of all the issues that led to the recent four-day strike embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
He specifically stated that the body would take a critical look at the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products, which triggered the warning strike that was suspended on Thursday by workers.
A major crack, according to Presidency sources, had developed in the committee�s terms of reference, following observations from certain members that for the exercise to be meaningful, efforts must be made to provide long term solutions in tackling the sufferings caused by the incessant hike in prices of petroleum products.
A member of the committee, who spoke to Sunday Punch on condition of anonymity, explained that though President Obasanjo was fully committed to cushioning the effects of the hike in the prices of petroleum products, it was not possible to achieve this by evolving mere temporary measures aimed at stemming the level of suffering associated with the present increase.
�The committee has encountered some bit of difficulties, as some members have discovered that it is not possible to realise their objectives without broadening the areas of coverage. And so, the committee has discovered the need to extend the purview of coverage.
�But some persons close to the president are not comfortable with the situation and warned that allowing the panel to operate beyond its scope may have negative impact on the need to tackle the problem.
�The invitation of Mantu to discuss with Mr. President is a clear indication that all is not well in the panel�s efforts at assuaging the anger in the country,� revealed the source.
Mantu, the source stressed, put up a spirited defence on the need to broaden the committee�s work in order to provide long term solutions rather than sticking to palliatives.
�Mr. President, we need to convince Nigerians that government is genuinely interested in providing long term solutions in tackling the recurring problems of fuel price increase. If the committee is allowed to broaden its scope of operations, it would go a long way in convincing Nigerians that Mr. President is genuinely concerned in tackling the issue once and or all,� Mantu was quoted to have told the president.
Having listened to the committee�s chairman, the president was said to have appreciated the arguments put up by the senator, but noted that the reason for the setting up of the panel was to work out measures that could control the surge of anger and cushion the effects of the price hike.
Contacted over President Obasanjo�s warning to the the panel to stick to its terms of reference, the Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, told Sunday Punch that all that he knew was that the Presidency was committed to improving the welfare of the people through developing palliatives to cushion the sufferings occasioned by the increase.
�Since the setting up of the panel by Mr. President, the government has made it clear that it was committed to tackling the cries of sufferings associated with the hike in the prices of petroleum products. I am not aware that there is a slight broadening in the terms of reference for the committee. I am not aware of that. All that I am aware of is that Mr. President is committed to the defence and improvement of the conditions of living of all Nigerians.
�Mr. President, being someone that is democratic, has listened to the cries of the people and has set up a committee to look into ways of coming up with palliatives capable of resolving the problem. The committee has commenced work and I am sure that very soon, it would come up with solutions to the problem,� declared Fani-Kayode.
Meanwhile, Sunday Punch learnt that Mantu had stepped up efforts in convincing the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, to reconsider his decision to renounce his membership of the palliatives panel.
The moves to persuade the labour leader, according to a source, was hinged on the need to involve labour and the civil societies who have been in the vanguard of bitter protests against hikes in fuel products.
Despite incessant pressure being mounted on the NLC�s President to resume membership of the fuel panel, Sunday Punch was reliably informed that the position of labour over membership of the palliatives panel remained unchanged.
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Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu
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