The Petroleum and Pure Fuel Senior Workers Affiliation of Nigeria has urged the Federal Authorities to extend its shares within the Dangote Petroleum Refinery from the present seven per cent to not less than 45 per cent to allow assurance and vitality safety.
It stated this may guarantee additional vitality assurance and safety for the residents.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, made the decision in Lagos on Tuesday through the presentation of its communique and proposals from the current version of the affiliation’s Vitality and Labour Summit.
He defined that the excessive stake within the refinery would improve vitality safety, noting that vitality safety is cardinal for the survival of any nation and Nigeria just isn’t an exception, therefore the residents demand vitality affordability, accessibility, and availability.
Osifo additional talked about that the federal government ought to accomplice with gamers within the personal sector to keep up the already obtainable petroleum product storage within the six geopolitical zones within the nation.
“When operational, petroleum merchandise might be saved there and solely made obtainable when there’s a scarcity in provide. This may assist in eliminating the dangerous roads and extreme erosion-imposed perennial shortages that usually result in queues at petrol stations throughout the nation,” he stated.
Osifo emphasised the growth of pipelines that might be used within the supply of refined petroleum merchandise throughout the size and breadth of the nation to cut back the stress on roads by vehicles carrying these merchandise.
He identified that to realize vitality safety, vitality should be reasonably priced, therefore in guaranteeing affordability, the Authorities should do all it may to stabilise the trade fee as the continual slide of the Naira will drastically hamper the affordability of vitality in Nigeria.
In guaranteeing native manufacturing of petroleum merchandise, he urged the federal authorities to ramp up efforts to make the Nation’s 4 refineries work.
He harassed that when operational, the federal government ought to divest majority shareholdings and personal at most 49 per cent of the shareholding within the 4 refineries, noting that core buyers might be introduced in to take the 51 per cent stake.
He regretted that the NNPC may solely purchase a 7.2 per cent stake within the $20bn refinery.
“Dangote is open to conversations on promoting the stake. He was able to promote 20 per cent earlier and we have been additionally pushing for the federal government by NNPC to get the 20 per cent, however sadly they might solely afford seven per cent, “ he stated.
Osifo stated the devaluation of the naira is the foremost purpose why PMS has grow to be unaffordable for Nigerians, noting no authorities floats its forex above 100 per cent.
“If, for instance, our trade fee was at N450 to a greenback, PMS can be promoting for round N320 or N350 per litre. So, the primary situation wasn’t the elimination of subsidies. The primary situation was that devaluation. The actual drawback is devaluation,” he said.
The affiliation referred to as on the federal government to develop and strengthen the nation’s oil and fuel worth chain to make sure a extra environment friendly and dependable distribution system downstream.
PENGASSAN harassed that with out such a system, the nation would proceed to face recurring gas shortages as its reliance on a truck-based distribution system is poor and insufficient to fulfill the calls for of Nigerians given its vulnerability and disruptions as a result of dangerous roads, flooding and ad-hoc logistics preparations.
The affiliation talked about that the current pattern of divestment by the Worldwide Oil Firms necessitated a strategic shift to accommodate native empowerment, innovation and harnessing potential and latent abilities, including that the divestment pattern was pushed by the mix of worldwide vitality transition objectives, monetary prudence, portfolio rationalization and evolving regulatory setting.
PENGASSAN cautioned that divestments current each dangers and alternatives for Nigeria, together with a discount in overseas direct funding, technical experience and a possible dip in manufacturing degree.
“A complete divestment framework underneath the Petroleum Trade Act (PIA) to information asset divestment by Licensees and Lessees within the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Sector must be strictly adhered to and applied. Pending when the Petroleum Trade Act is amended to incorporate the divestment framework, the present framework promulgated by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Fee should be gazetted for full implementation.
“A job safety system must be developed by the federal government to make sure that Nigerians don’t lose their jobs submit divestment. An MOU should be signed between the divesting corporations and the commerce unions to guard members’ jobs and improve their welfare,” he stated.
