TheCable

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has condemned plan to limit importation of petroleum products into the country to holders of local refineries as contained in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

This is contained in a statement signed by Quadri Olaleye, TUC president; and Musa-Lawal Ozigi, TUC secretary-general, on Tuesday.

The senate joint committee on 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, TUC said the move is monopolistic and contradicts business ethics.

It also condemned the move as a deliberate attempt to frustrate the challenges the PIB intends to solve.

TUC advised the federal government that the importation of the products should be left open to other operators in the oil and gas industry.

“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.”

Similarly, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) pushed 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.”

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.