House of Reps Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) argued that the hike in price of petrol by NNPCL will hinder Nigeria’s progress
By Kehinde Okeowo
The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) has joined the call by minority caucus in the Blue Chamber for the reversal of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called Petrol.
The call for the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to revert to the old price was conveyed via a statement made available to journalists in Abuja by the Chairman of the committee, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa.
According to the Hose of Reps committee, the hike in petrol price is unacceptable and inimical to the country’s progress as it would encourage private companies to take advantage of gaps in the system and make arbitrary profits at the expense of Nigerians.
“We urge the Federal Government and, of course, the NNPCL to consider the plight of Nigerians and suspend this recent increase in pump price,” Ado-Doguwa said.
He went on to tell the FG that Nigerians are currently going through a lot of challenges.
“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..
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Ado-Doguwa, who is also the Chairman, the Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Vandalisation of Pipelines, also pledged to tackle the challenge caused by the loss of revenue to the government owing to the loss of crude.
“As a special committee, we will aggressively seek modalities to interface with the youths and community leaders in the oil-producing areas,” he further said.
This, according to him, was to 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.
The lawmaker also advised Nigerians to give the President Bola Tinubu-led administration a chance to reposition the oil and gas sector.
He stated that the Petroleum Industry Act, coupled with the effort to revive the nation’s refineries, would ensure that 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.
TheNiche had earlier reported that the House of Reps minority caucus on Thursday condemned the recent hike in the pump price of petrol by NNPCL and asked the FG to urgently reverse the increase.
The group was reacting to Tuesday’s announcement by NNPCL that it has increased the pump price of petrol from N617 to N897 per liter.
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