Against the threat by labour unions to protest government?s announcement of ending petrol subsidies, the Presidency said yesterday that it had reached an understanding with the labour leaders before the decision was taken. �
It also said that the announcement of subsidy withdrawal on Sunday by the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was in line with government policy.�
The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati stated this yesterday while addressing the media on the policy shift.
He said the decision to end fuel subsidy was taken in the best interest of Nigerians and that even those opposing subsidy removal ?either for mischief or partisanship, will see the wisdom in the action.?
He said the announcement shouldn?t come as a surprise because Nigerians had been foretold and that even the labour was properly consulted.
He said, ?the President has spoken again and again that there will be deregulation of PMS in 2012, we are in 2012. It is consistent.?
?This particular announcement had been foretold. Government had prepared the peoples mind that in 2012 there will be no subsidy on PMS. The thing has been discussed on the radio, in the market and has been a topic in the public place.?
?Consultations has been going on for more than two months, we have held town hall meetings, the President had met with students, civil society, media chiefs and even market women and then there has been campaigns even in the newspapers.?
Asked about the threat by labour to shut down the country following government?s announcement of ending petrol subsidies, Abati said, ?I� hold that Labour will hold on to its promise that it will support whatever government does in the interest of the Nigerian people because labour was consulted.
?I attended those meetings with labour and I know that at that meeting there were clearly some understandings reached.?
On why safety nets that government promised to put in place before the removal of the subsidy were not put in place before the announcement, he said, ?Government did not say it will put the safety nets before removing the subsidy. What government said is that the N1.4 trillion that will be rescued from the budget will reduce borrowing, create revenue and that money when rescued will be used in the following areas stated in the source documents and it is also stated that a committee will be put in place to monitor, a committee that will be made up of stakeholders in civil society to monitor how that money will be used and this is to address the issue of trust on the part of many Nigerians. The government did not say it will provide before.?
Abati regretted that the media had been placing emphasis on the removal of subsidy whereas what government was actually doing was the deregulation of the downstream sector.
?When we started with these deregulation in the telecoms sector, SIM card was being sold for as much as N20,000 but today� people are given SIM cards almost free of charge.
?You will also note that how many refineries were licenced? For all the refineries that were licensed I don?t know of anybody who has taken up the licence and put it into operation because the price regime is not good for the business because some other people will either lift oil or not lift oil and then collect subsidy and then go and sell it in neighbouring countries or engage in some other antitrust practices. Deregulation is in the interest of the public and I think we should place the emphasis on deregulation.?
He said even Ghana removed petroleum subsidy last week without much problem.
Nepal Poland Sheffield United Regulators Conservation Sam Allardyce
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento