PIB: TUC, PENGASSAN, others challenge restriction over PMS import
By Uthman Salami
Major stakeholders in the oil and gas have registered their displeasure over the provision in the Senate version of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that placed right to licence of petrol import to only those who are active refinery licence holders.
The stakeholders, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and PENGASSAN Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), said the provision might force existing players out of the market, leaving a monopolistic market for the national oil company and big refiners.
To these stakeholders, this provision is against best business ethics and will deprive the nation all the potential in the recently passed bill.
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria TUC described the planned move to limit fuel imports to only owners of refineries as monopolistic and a deliberate attempt to frustrate the challenges the Petroleum Industry Bill PIB is intended to solve.
The TUC President, Mr Quadri Olaleye and the Secretary General, Mr Musa-Lawal Ozigi, said the country could not afford to continue toying with the oil and gas sector as it remains the only major source of foreign exchange.
“The labour chiefs are surprised, dismayed and irritated by the conspiracy to waste another opportunity to fix the sector, noting that from the lawmakers’ position and body language, one could infer they are serving the interest of some few individuals to the detriment of the over 97 percent of the country’s population but the congress will not allow that to happen.
“The labour leaders urge the lawmakers to rise up and provide true leadership instead of serving the interest of few capitalists. It is high time ‘these principalities and powers’ removed their knees from the neck of Nigeria and Nigerians,” TUC said in a statement jointly issued.
On their parts, leadership of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, which appreciated the National Assembly for the passage of the PIB to unlock the fortune of oil and gas industry, called for removal of the clause restricting importation license to few operators.
“As we intensify effort to make our refinery work, we should ensure that the PIB does not monopolies the importation of PMS as currently provided in the senate version of the bill. This is to ensure that there is competition in the downstream oil and gas industry.
NUPENGASSAN, in a statement jointly issued by Mr Lumumba Okugbawa (PENGASSAN General Secretary), Mr Festus Osifo, (PENGASSAN President), Mr Olawale Afolabi, (NUPENG General Secretary) and Mr Williams Akporeha (NUPENG National President), said “Leaving this national security issues to few individuals will shortchange the larger Nigerian populace. We should avoid running from one ugly scenario to an uglier situation that is avoidable.”
They believe the inclusion of PENGASSAN and NUPENG on the board of the industry regulator(s) is crucial for the attainment of one of the key objectives of this bill, which is to ensure accountability and transparency in the industry.
The statement partly read: “All Civil societies and labour strongly clamored for the inclusion of the two Unions in the sector to be on the board of the regulators for reasons of global best practice currently being practiced in most climes.
“The needs and justifications for this are many and enormous as it will also ensure that the regulators are further strengthened in ensuring that issues bordering on the welfare of workers would have been championed from the cradle of the bill.”
They canvased for a single regulator in the best interest of the industry and the nation at large, saying that it would serve as a one-stop-shop for current and aspiring investors.
They, however, hoped that the grey areas, especially monopoly to be granted to few refiners, would be timely addressed by both houses of the Assembly before the Bill is sent to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.
They maintained that if the grey areas are not duly addressed before the President signs the Bill into law, it would stifle the full good sides of the bill.
The workers said that the clause remained one of the major drawbacks of passed bill.
Recalled that Nigerian NewsDirect had earlier reported, just yesterday, MOMAN and DAPPMAN similar aversion to the same provision on the Bill.
It remains to be seen whether more outrage and aversion will follow from other stakeholders over this particular provision.
