The non availability of foreign exchange (FX) at CBN rate to marketers is largely responsible for the increase as they source FX from the parallel market.
By Eberechi Obinagwam,
Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has said that the major problem of the high price of kerosene, cooking gas, aviation fuel, diesel, and other commodities is caused by the exchange rate.
The president of the association, Comrade Festus Osifo in a media briefing organised to call the attention of the government at all levels to the pertinent issues affecting their members in particular and Nigerian citizens in general, says that the non-availability of foreign exchange (FX) at CBN rate to marketers is largely responsible for the increase as they source FX from the parallel market.
Adding that this is without prejudice to the activities of unscrupulous marketers that are bent on milking Nigerians dry.
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In his speech, he disclosed that for the fact that these products have since been deregulated does not give marketers the opportunity to exploit Nigerian. ”The regulator of the downstream sector of the industry must ensure that Nigerians are not exploited. Although the increase in the price of crude oil in the international market is partly responsible for the surge, from findings, the none availability of foreign exchange at CBN rate to marketers is largely responsible as they source FX from the parallel market.
“Commodities are going higher than what the inflation statistics provides because our FX is dropping and most of the commodities are imported. Federal government should see to the stability of our currencies,” he said.
He urged the federal government to remove all forms of taxes and levies from the importation of petroleum products, ”the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas and other gas producers should be mandated to focus much more on domestic gas production. Efforts should be intensified to fast track the current rate of rehabilitation of the nation’s four refineries to guarantee energy security. In the short term, make FX available to the importers at the official rate,” he said.
He disclosed that if this abnormality and distortion continues, it has the ability to drive the country into another round of recession and further improverish the already battered citizens.
On the issues of petroleum products price and availability, comrade Osifo said that over the years, they have been at the forefront of ensuring that petroleum products are available at affordable prices, but for the past few months, they have watched with keen interest the endless queues that Nigerians face in the petrol station on a daily basis which was initially attributed to the low quality of PMS imported into the country, later to the hoarding of products by marketers and lastly to the tanker drivers to transport products to different part of the country.
With regards to this, he urged the Ministry of Petroleum, Nigeria Mid, and Downstream Petroleum Regulation Authority, (NMDPRA), NNPC Ltd., MOMAN, DAPMAN, IPMAN, and other stakeholders in the supply and distribution value chain of the industry to double their effort in putting this incessant queues to an immediate end while ensuring that citizens pay the approved price of PMS in all parts of the country.
For electricity, the union said: ”we have watched times without number the rush to increase electricity tariffs even when there is a drop in power generation. We insist that there should be no increase in the tarrif without a corresponding increase in power supply and total elimination from a era of estimated billings that have resulted in consumers paying more than their actual consumption.
”Also, Discos staff deliberately frustrate the attempt by consumers to acquire the pre-paid electric meter in order to engage in the old practices that encourages fraud. This act should be completely gotten rid off.
”It is so sad that year’s after the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of the legions of companies created out of it. Instead, the citizens are subjected to serial grid collapse and total blackout,”
They however, called on government to immediately review the privatization of power generating companies and distribution companies that was carried out in 2014 as the operating companies have become more of a burden to the nation.
“As a matter of urgency, the entire power sector must be unbundled and power generation, transmission, and distribution should be moved from the exclusive list of the concurrent list in Nigeria constitution,” the union stated.
