The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has urged the Nigerian Labour Congress and its Trade Union Congress counterpart to drop the planned protest against the Federal Government over the proposed removal of fuel subsidy.
Lawan said the move has become ‘totally unnecessary’ in view of the decision of the Federal Government to suspend the move.
Lawan spoke when he met with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, over the planned removal of subsidy on petroleum products by the Federal Government.
A statement by Special Assistant (Press) to President of the Senate
Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, on Monday, quoted the Senate President as having faulted the timing for the planned removal of subsidy on petroleum products in his opening remarks at the meeting.
According to him, while it is a fact that the administration and management of subsidy on petroleum products are flawed, President Muhammadu Buhari-led government believes that sufficient planning must be carried out before its eventual removal.
He called on the umbrella Labour bodies: the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress to stop the planned protest rallies, as the Federal Government has no plan of removing the petroleum subsidy now.
He said, “The position of everyone in government today is that admittedly, subsidy administration and management are flawed because of so many reasons.
“Admittedly, the burden is huge and massive and there is need at one point to do away with the subsidy.
“Even though our economy is growing, we still have the challenge of getting things to be better for our people.
“A lot of us in this administration believe that the issue of removal of subsidy should be handled with utmost care, especially that sufficient planning needs to be done.
“Significant arrangements for absorbing the shocks that will come with the removal should be done, that the timing should be such that the impact and consequences will not add to hardship. We all believe in this and Mr. President leads us in this feeling.
“What we are saying is that this is not the time. All of us are of the same opinion and, therefore, there is nothing like confusion or lack of understanding within the government circle.
“We all agree that the subsidy is abused and, therefore, it is a challenge to us as an administration to deal with the abuse, to find appropriate means of stopping it.
“After this meeting, there will be other ones, all in search of ways and means of ensuring that the ordinary Nigerian does not suffer any hardship, that when the subsidy will be removed eventually, it would be at such a point that the hardship will be very minimal and taken care of by several programmes.
“It is not about NLC, we are talking about every Nigerian. We are concerned beyond the Nigerian Labour Congress.
“I am taking this opportunity to appeal to the TUC and NLC to shelve this plan to go on strike or demonstration, it is totally unnecessary.
“There is not going to be removal of subsidy, so there is no need for this. Please, let’s not create unnecessary tension where there should be none.
“I appeal to them using this medium, to please forget about this January 27, 2022, deadline because there is no need for any deadline.
“We are supposed to come together and work assiduously to ensure that our country is stable, and our people enjoy the benefits of government programmes and projects, and that whatever decision would be taken will be in the best interest of our people and protecting the most vulnerable amongst us.”
The Minister of Finance, Ahmed Zainab, in her remarks, said that the Federal Government has made provisions for subsidy in the 2022 budget from January to June this year.
The minister who says that all payments on fuel subsidy ordinarily would cease as from July, 2022 added “that efforts are also underway by the Executive arm of government to forward a request to the National Assembly to make additional provision for fuel subsidy from July this year till a time deemed appropriate for its eventual removal.”
She stated further that the Federal Government decided to suspend the planned subsidy removal after consultations because of the problematic timing.
Those at the meeting include the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi and the Deputy Whip, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi.
Also present were the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authourity, Farouk Ahmed, Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, and Commissioned Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe.
Others are the Special Assistant to the President on Natural Resources, Habib Nuhu, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Aliyu Shehu Shinkafi, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo.