Trade Union Congress (TUC) has described the plan to limit the importation of petroleum products into Nigeria to holders of local refineries as contained in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), as a move to impoverish the nation.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Senate joint committee on the downstream petroleum sector, petroleum resources (upstream), and gas had recommended that the importation of petroleum products into Nigeria be limited to holders of local refining licence.
However, the TUC in a statement signed by its President, Quadri Olaleye on Tuesday, said the move is monopolistic and contradicts business ethics.
“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 per cent of the country’s population but the Congress will not allow that to happen,” the statement reads.
“There is no sugarcoating the matter, the capitalist trajectory in Nigeria is morally, economically, and legally wrong as it tends to impoverish Nigeria and Nigerians.
“It hinders the country’s financial and economic progress because it transfers a huge chunk of public wealth to ‘favoured businessmen’. This is not only treacherous but also a serious form of corruption.
“We are calling on the government, especially the legislative arm to rescind their decision immediately as it would only worsen the problem it is meant to solve.”
In the same vein, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) also kicked against the restriction of fuel imports to only local refiners.
The oil marketers said: “It poses a monopoly risk that must be avoided. Any provision that does not guarantee a free and open market will give room to price inefficiencies and eventually kill off small businesses in the downstream sector.”
Gatekeepers News reports that Holders of crude oil refining licences in Nigeria include Dangote Oil Refinery; Waltersmith Refining & Petrochemical Company; OPAC Refineries; Niger Delta Petroleum Resources; BUA Refinery & Petrochemicals and Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company.
