Subsidy removal: FG needs communication, engagement, collaboration with stakeholders for effective transition — Adeosun
By Uthman Salami
The Chief Executive Officer, Ardova Plc who is also the Chairman, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigerian (MOMAN) has urged the Federal Government to embark on proper communication, engagement and collaboration in order to achieve proper and efficient transition to a market-determined price oil industry.
Mr. Adeosun made this known to Nigerian NewsDirect during a subsidy workshop with members of the press in Lagos Monday.
While fielding questions from the press after a workshop tagged: “Economics of Subsidy and the Pathway to achieving Industry Reforms in the Petroleum Downstream Industry,” the MOMAN Chairman said it was imperative for the government to engage with critical stakeholders in the industry to implement major structural change.
While expressing shock over the recent news of government suspension of planned subsidy removal by 18-month, he said “First of all my confession has to be that the news came as a surprise. But on reflection, we are yet to consult with governments formally.
“The consultations have been against the backdrop of decision that have made. We have engaged the government. We have one or two senior level meetings planned for this week.
“The impact is obviously the delay because the reality of the matter is that we had not really started to implement some element of the plan. Even though the Act has been signed, we are not really operating in a deregulated world, otherwise there will be no limit to the petroleum pump price.”
He said, “The suspension and the impact is creating more uncertainties. It doesn’t do more in terms of investors’ confidence in this as a destination of choice. But I think it is important that we also understand the macro picture.
“Government has announced that the timing was not just problematic. We can read whatever we can into it. But if we take the broader context of the security, unrest, inflation pressure and all other macro conditions that are outside the government, you can understand why.”
While encouraging that the decision should not be a setback for actualisation of major change in the industry, he maintained that, “The most important aspect of this cannot be a setback. It must be a platform for change. We must use this opportunity to come up with a plan that allows us to manage this change with the degree of gravity, seriousness and focus that it requires. We are ultimately trying to build something structure in Nigerian Architecture.”
“You would have heard me earlier that the three things I have asked from the government in managing this transition is very simple it is communication, engagement and collaboration.”
Explaining the importance of the media workshop, “We strive to have a good relationships with media in any event, but when you have situations of national crisis like this, it’s absolutely critical that we bring all the right people in and we solve it together,” he affirmed.
“This is not the time to break away. so for us, we believe in engagement. We believe in collaboration. We absolutely think communication is the way to go. The point is to really have the press to have an inside and working understanding of the challenges the industry is facing,” he added.
He appealed for the adoption of consultations and engagements with critical stakeholders, noting that the framework will help to map out “who the key stakeholders truly are. From the most significant to the perceived least materials and make sure they have representation in this big dialogue that affects generations, no one person has the right to do it and that’s why we are opening this conversation.”
