Following the outrage by Nigeria over arbitrary fuel hike by the Federal government, the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) has demanded that the fuel price be reversed back to its former price, urging the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL) to comply with immediate effect.
Chairman of the committee on upstream, Hon. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, made the call in Abuja where he described the hike in petrol price as unacceptable and insensitive.
Doguwa said that a situation where private companies took advantage of gaps in the system to make arbitrary profits at the expense of Nigerians was unacceptable and inimical to the country’s progress.
The lawmaker who issued a statement said, “We urge the Federal Government and, of course, the NNPCL to consider the plight of Nigerians and suspend this recent increase in pump price”.
According to him, Nigerians were currently going through a lot of challenges and therefore does not deserve to be treated with such disdain.
“Let us revert to the old pump price as soon as possible and probably intensify engagements with major stakeholders to address the problem,” he added.
Doguwa, who doubled as the Chairman, Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Vandalisation of Pipelines, has reiterated his resolve to tackle the challenge caused by the loss of revenue to the government owing to the loss of crude.
He explained, “As a special committee, we will aggressively seek modalities to interface with the youths and community leaders in the oil-producing areas”.
According to him, the move will address the frequent cases of crude oil theft, capable of affecting the petrol supply across the country.
“We are working in collaboration with security agencies in their quest to secure oil pipelines and other critical facilities in the country.
“We believe that a return to the old pump price will calm frayed nerves, thus enabling Nigerians to go about their daily activities with ease,” he noted.
Although the lawmaker has called on Nigerians to give the President Bola Tinubu-led administration a benefit of doubt to reposition the country’s oil and gas sector.
He explained that the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA is a legal document that seeks to revive the nation’s refineries promising that very soon Nigeria would soon reap the benefits of its oil and gas endowments.
“We believe that with interventions the government is making to commence operations at Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, these challenges will end,” he said.
NAN reports that the NNPC Ltd had on Tuesday directed its fuel sales outlets to increase their pump prices from the average of N617 to N897, a development that has immediately spiked an outrage, including market commodities and transportation price hikes.
