Stories by Bimbola Oyesola 08033246177

The Labour movement in Nigeria may have learnt a bitter lesson from last year’s increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from N87 to N145. It was a time the trade union movement in Nigeria would not forget in a hurry,  when the Federal Government capitalised on the schism in the movement to its advantage.
Government had used divide-and-rule tactics to further delineate the movement and forced the almost 100 per cent hike in the price of petrol on Nigerians, who could ill afford it.
Shortly aftre, the federal government promised tat there would be some palliatives for the masses, to cushion the effects of the price hike, including setting in motion negotiation on the review of the minimum wage. Eight months after,  none of the agreements has seen the light of day.
However events in recent times are indicative that there might be another pump price increase in the offing. This speculation was further heightened by the traffic gridlock that has returned to Apapa, Lagos, where most petrol tank farms are located, due to queues for petroleum products by tanker trailers coming into Lagos to lift fuel from several states in Nigeria. Besides, some filling station have refused to sell products, in anticipation of the increase.
Another indication pointing to an imminent increase was the recent public hearing by the House of Representatives on the review of pump price of PMS,  where several labour organisations  made presentations.
Meanwhile the price of petrol has reportedly gone from N145 to N155 per litre in Kano State.
The situation is said to have partially shut down Kano city with transporters almost doubling fares.

Government’s response
Though the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has dismissed the speculations, insisting that the federal government never announced any change in the pump price, he was quoted as saying later that the government would undertake a review of the pricing template for PMS to forestall a further hike in price.
Group General Manager, Public Affairs, NNPC, Mr. Garba Deen Muhammad, also issued a statement in Abuja in which he denied the report of pump price increase.
“The price adjustment is still within the price band of N140 and N145 per litre approved on May 11 (2016) by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the statutory body in charge of petroleum products pricing,” he said.
The corporation assured marketers and consumers of its readiness to continue to play its statutory role of being the supplier of last resort and ensuring energy security for the nation.
The NNPC further confirmed the availability of over 1.6 billion litres of PMS in-country that would last 45 days.
“There was no time the NNPC management met the President to push for a hike in the pump price of petrol to N150 per litre,” Muhammad said.
Also, recently, the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, through a representive, NNPC’s Chief Executive Officer, downstream, Henry Ikem-Obih, denied any plans to increase the price of petrol. Baru’s position was also supported by his counterpart at the Nigeria Petroleum Marketing Company (NPMC), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, who said his organisation had no intention to worsen the pains of Nigerians.
According to Baru, the coastal price of petrol to marketers is N123 per litre just as Ahmed assured that his organisation would ensure availability of fuel through its retail outlets.
He, however, noted that his organisation could not do much to reduce the price of kerosene and diesel, since the price of the products have been deregulated and were affected by the current foreign exchange hiccups.
Similarly, the PPPRA has assured the public that the existing price band of N135 to N145 per litre of PMS was still okay and there was no basis for increase in price.

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Oil marketers’ proposal
But for oil marketers, PMS at N145 per litre is no longer sustainable. The petroleum marketers, according to investigation, have proposed a new pump price of N165 per litre for PMS.
Among others, the marketers claimed the scarcity of foreign exchange to finance fuel importation made this necessary
Calling for the increase, the marketers claimed that in May 2016 when the price of PMS was reviewed from N87 to N145 per litre, the exchange rate was based on N285 to a dollar, but from June 2016 till date, the exchange rate had been fluctuating between N305 and N490 to a dollar. Going further, the marketers proposed N165 per litre to cover the cost of forex required for products importation.
They said: “The recent appreciation in the prices of crude oil at the global oil market is another argument favouring the upward review of PMS in Nigeria. The gradual increase in the global oil price impacts the pump price since most of the local consumption is imported. Crude oil is refined and imported to Nigeria from other countries, which made the business to be dollarised”.

Organised Labour’s decision
Organised  Labour this time around is united in its decision to resist any attempt by the government to further increase the price of petrol. All the labour centres and the unions who made presentations to the ad hoc committee on the review of pump price of PMS at the House of Representatives have vowed to resist any further increase.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in its reaction, disregarded the news that the Federal Government may be planning to increase fuel price.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said it could not be true that the Federal Government was planning such because there was a meeting recently between labour leaders and government officials in which it was agreed that there would be no fuel price increase.
“We had a formal meeting, which the marketers, labour union leaders and government officials attended. And government has given us its commitment that there will be no fuel increase. So, I don’t believe in that,” Wabba said.
The two unions in the petroleum sector, in their presentation to the House committee, kicked against any further increase in the pump price of PMS.
The body under the umbrella of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (NUPENGASSAN), said the timing was wrong, more so in the face of the present challenges that include scarcity of  forex.
According to the oil workers,  the current economic situation would not accommodate such a review.
“The economy is  biting hard on all Nigerians. Any attempt to further review the template will further impoverish ordinary Nigerians as the additional price will be transferred to the end users of the product. Such review will further impact negatively on the economy, which the government is currently trying to pull out of recession”, the unions stated, adding that any attempt to increase the price will drive up the inflation index as PMS is a staple product in Nigeria.
The oil unions explained that Nigeria depends on PMS for not only transportation but also to generate power for home or industrial use, especially SMEs, which can jump-start the nation’s economy.
The unions maintained that it would not support any increase bearing in mind that the government failed to fulfil its promises to organised labour when the price was adjusted last year.
They said: “As major stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, we supported  the review of the pricing template that moved the price of PMS to N145 per litre on the condition that the government will put in place some palliative measures and reinvest the gains from that price regime to cushion effects of the increase.
The unions advised government to look inward for the solution to the lingering and persistent pricing problems by enhancing local refining.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC), in its reaction, warned the NNPC to avoid another hike as it would lead to dire consequences.
The TUC president, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, in response to a statement credited to the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Department of NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, that “the nation’s harsh business environment may make it difficult to sustain the current pump price of petrol,” described it as highly insensitive and an open invitation to a revolution in Nigeria.
He said, “Congress is surprised that the management of an organisation as important as the NNPC, regularly contradicts itself, with members thereof speaking from both sides of the mouth,” saying, the offices of the Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director of the Corporation had earlier said the current price was not sustainable, but assured that “there was nothing to worry about.”
This comment by Kyari, he noted, corroborates the public’s suspicion that they were already nursing the idea even at a time when Nigerians have been stretched beyond acceptable limits.
He said, “Ours is a country of paradoxes. We export crude and import refined products. Our refineries are still producing far below installed capacity, even with all the reforms said to have been done by this administration. Sadly, all efforts of organised labour to help by advocating speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill have hit the rocks. The only antidote consistently offered by our NNPC bigwigs to the challenges in the oil and gas sector is fuel hike. How unfortunate.
“We shall not tolerate infliction of more pain on Nigerians; we kick against closure of more factories; and we hold the government responsible for insecurity, crime and other vices. They should stop telling us they feel our pain when all they do is to make it worse!
“Failure to adhere to the voice of reason will lead to serious industrial crisis.”
In the same vein, the United Labour Congress (ULC), in its presentation to the House of Representatives public hearing on the review said that it would be seen as heartless and wicked for government to even contemplate increasing the price of petroleum products when Nigerians are already suffering more than they have ever suffered in history.
The ULC president, Joe Ajaero, said Nigerians cannot afford another hike in the price of petroleum products no matter how perfect the pricing template is.
Expressing the same opinion like NUPENGASSAN, Ajaero noted that in Nigeria, PMS is not just used for transportation but for power.
“Public power, we should remember is on stand- by in the country rather than the other way round.
We may be taking Nigerians for granted if the Government is contemplating raising the price of PMS for any reason”, he said.
Ha added, “It is known that the demand for foreign exchange for the importation of petroleum products alone into the country from investigation is about 60% of our entire forex consumption. Imagine what will happen to the value of the domestic currency if this pressure is taken away from it.”
Lamenting that  it is shameful as a nation that Nigeria should be talking about reviewing the template for importing and subsidising Petroleum products especially PMS after nearly 70 years of finding Oil in commercial quantity and around 60 years of coming into stream of the first local refinery in the country, the labour leader said Nigeria cannot be talking about reviewing the Price Template based on imported Petroleum products. He stated further, ”Viable, sensible and acceptable petroleum pricing template review is the one based on total local refining and supply of Petroleum products and not the other way round.
“Summarily, the United Labour Congress of Nigeria (ULC) rejects any pricing template that is based on imports.