FG restates plan to withdraw petrol subsidy

For the second time in 24 hours, the federal government has reiterated its plan to deregulate the downstream oil sector despite the huge outcry that necessitated its suspension last year when it withdrew the subsidy on petrol.



Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who briefed State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday, said that the issue was its first major challenge last year but the president had to put it on hold because of the many calls that were made on him not to implement the policy.

Maku's statement came on the heels of a similar statement made by the president during The Economist magazine's 2013 Nigeria Summit held in Lagos on Tuesday.

At the summit, Jonathan had said the federal government was still planning to fully deregulate the petroleum downstream sector, but only after holding consultations with Nigerians on how to go about the implementation of the policy.

He said: "We cannot continue to waste resources meant for a greater number of Nigerians to subsidise the affluent middle class, who are the main beneficiaries."

The federal government on January 1 2012, had deregulated the price of petrol, but the policy was resisted by the generality of the public culminating in a week-long strike, which forced the government to reverse the policy on full deregulation of the downstream oil sector.

Since the incident, the official price of petrol has been fixed at N97.00 per litre while that of kerosene was pegged at N50.00 per litre.

According to Maku, despite the criticism of the policy by some Nigerians, the overwhelming majority are now satisfied that its implementation is crucial to the scaling up of the oil and gas sector so as to curtail corruption and develop the nation.

He lamented that the federal government was currently losing a lot of money to the payment of subsidy, while Nigerians continue to suffer from lack of infrastructure and paying extra to avail themselves of services from the oil and gas sector.

"Without deregulation," Maku insisted, "there will be no deregulated downstream sector. Currently the government is losing, the people are losing, because we cannot generate jobs.

"The potential that the oil and gas sector could have unleashed on the country is completely truncated. But the effort is continuous, as the government will not relent on its effort to convince Nigerians so as to reverse the trend of Nigerians suffering as a result of the subsidy on fuel."

On the spate of insecurity occasioned by the activities of the Islamist insurgent sect, Boko Haram, the minister said his ministry has done a lot to create awareness among Nigerians.

He explained that following a meeting of the National Security Council last year, a template on security awareness was been embarked upon by all states.

"The overall objective of terrorism is to bring down government and scare Nigerians. The agenda of the group is anti-Islamic. People everywhere in the North are suffering.

"But our efforts have shown Nigerians the impact of terror on the northern economy. That has exposed terror for what it is today and most stakeholders in the North are joining the debate," he stated.

He added: "Today, Christians and Muslims are not fighting as government has de-escalated terrorism.
Most of the fight against terror, particularly in Kano, involves people of the community.

"The ministry also did a little campaign in the communities between Dadin Kowa and Bokkos in Plateau State. Now both Christians and Muslims are working against elements of terror."

Speaking on the National Good Governance Tour, Maku noted that it was a huge success, saying no single state has rejected it.

"The ministry went round to Abuja, Niger, Plateau, Nassarawa, Benue and other states. What is crucial is that the tour has generated competition among states.

"This heavy competition is promoting development within states and even within ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs)," he stated.

Another feature of the post-FEC briefing yesterday was the stewardship given by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development on its programmes in 2012.

The minister, Ms. Ama Pepple, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Mahe; Director of Architectural Services in the ministry, Mr. Sani Gidado; and the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Mr. Terver Gemade, highlighted some of the ministry's achievements, including the delivery of 8,069 houses in 2012.

According to Mahe, under the ministry's prototype housing scheme, 256 houses were built in three cities.

He said the ministry also entered into partnership with private companies to build houses in Taraba, Gombe, Kano and other states, just as more houses were built and sold through banks and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).

"The ministry has created a PPP unit to work in partnership with the private sector to deliver houses to the people while 720,228 jobs were created in the housing sector with the aim of making housing availability more efficient," Mahe said.

He also listed the major problem being faced by the ministry as land procurement, observing that approximately N2 billion was needed last year for that purpose, but the appropriation in the budget for the purpose was slightly above N100 million. "We hope that there will be an improvement this year," he noted.

Other problems he listed were poverty, shortage of houses and proliferation of slums that needed to be upgraded, implementation of the Land Use Act and multiple charges levied on prospective land owners in the process of acquiring title deeds like Certificates of Occupancy (C of O).