…Calls for strict enforcement
Mkpoikana Udoma 20 January 2015, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt – The two petroleum workers’ union in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, have commended the federal government on its decision to bring down the pump price of petrol from N97 to N87 per litre.
The Port Harcourt Zonal Chairman of PENGASSAN, Comrade Azubuike M. Azubuike, disclosed this to SweetCrudeReports in Port Harcourt.
Comrade Azubuike, however, said there was need for the government to make the refineries functional or build modular refineries across the country in order to meet the needs of the masses.
He said the amount of reduction in the petrol price was not important, because Nigeria was still losing revenues by importing fuel.
According to him, “It is a welcome development, but the amount reduced is not important, what is important is to make our refineries functional, because when we are able to do that, that is when we can talk about the fuel pump price that is acceptable and that can add value to people’s life in the country.
“Even if the federal government should reduce the pimp price to N30 per litre it will not have much impact on the economy of Nigeria, because these things (petrol, diesel and kerosene) are being imported and Nigeria is losing a lot of revenue, no jobs and many other things”.
In the same vein, the Port Harcourt Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, Comrade Godwin Eruba, in a separate interview with SweetcrudeReports, described the reduction as a welcome development as he called for adequate enforcement of the new price regime.
He said, “It is welcome a development, even though the amount of reduction is very minimal as compared to the current price of crude oil in the international market. I think it’s a good development anyway, but we are also asking, let there be adequate enforcement to persuade the marketers to revert to the N87 per litre, because as we speak petrol stations in Port Harcourt are still selling at the old price of N97. So, there ought to be adequate monitoring, there ought to be adequate enforcement in order to ensure that the compliance is enforced”.
