Former Leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) have faulted comments credited to the senate president, Ahmad Lawan, that President Muhammadu Buhari was not aware of any plan to withdraw fuel subsidy in the country.
The labor veterans who said there was no way President Buhari would claim ignorance of the move to remove subsidy, urged the senate president to desist from creating confusion in the country.
The former labour leaders who made the remarks yesterday during the Kano state congress meeting of NLC declared that labour would not accept any strategy of the government to withdraw fuel subsidy and increase fuel price.
Former NLC deputy president, Comrade Isa Tijani challenged the president to rather come out openly to address Nigerians on the government’s stand on fuel subsidy, which he said remained the only antidote to the raging doubts and speculations.
“How could a president of a country in a matter as sensitive as removal of fuel subsidy, when the GMD NNPC confirmed and minister of finance also confirmed the planned removal, say he was not aware? Are these senior government officials acting on his behalf or outside his directive? Would they have the right to do something without his knowledge? Is that possible?
“Let the senate president not come and confuse Nigerians the more because we would not make any move to withdraw the subsidy. And in any case, why wouldn’t the president come out himself to announce that government is not and will not remove the subsidy. If the statement comes from the president as the C in C, we will take it but any other person, it is no for an answer.
The GMD NNPC has told us many lies that Nigerians can no longer trust. He said by the middle of 2021, our four refineries would be repaired, but the refineries are not fixed as we speak. They promised to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt refinery, they have burnt some part of it. Government should be able to face the oil cartels by ensuring our refineries are fixed start working, it is then and only then the government can talk of removing the subsidy,” Isa noted.
On his part, former NLC general secretary, Comrade Salisu Mohammad, knocked the government for spending billions of naira in the name of maintenance of refineries without result, and challenged President Buhari to fulfill his campaign promise of blocking corruption in the country.
Comrade Salisu said instead of fixing the moribund refineries to ease the price of locally consumed oil, the present administration spends billions of dollars on fuel importation while encouraging corrupted endemic cartels to siphon the commonwealth in the name of subsidy.
He said: “Yes, I believe the federal government is spending more than what they claim on subsidy and that is callously irresponsible. It is callous because Nigeria is the only country that produces oil and is unable to refine its crude for local consumption. We have four refineries rendered in dilapidated conditions and a state of disuse.
“The government is allocating a huge amount of money in the name of turn around maintenance but the refineries are unable to produce a little. And in the last 10 years alone, the government has sunk over $9 billion in the name of turning the refineries around and the expenditure continues.”
