Reps Quiz IPMAN Over Fuel Price Hike

The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on petroleum price increase on Tuesday queried the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on the imperatives for a quick adjustment to the current price of petroleum products in Nigeria.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos) at the opening of the investigative hearing on Tuesday in Abuja said that the House is worried over the astronomical increase in the price of petroleum products after the removal of fuel subsidy adding that Nigerians are becoming poorer.

He pointed out that any increase in the price of oil products will always result in increase in the prices of goods and services adding that the investigation is to ascertain the rationale for the increase in price of fuel from N537 to N617.

“The House of Representatives is the people’s avenue for ventilating their opinions about government policies and programmes. As representatives of Nigerians, we have been inundated with calls and questioning on the motive of the government behind this recent increase.

“Petroleum is unarguably the lifeline of the Nigerian economy and any increase in its price will undoubtedly result in a ripple effect on the price of goods and services, especially food stuff”, he stated.

He disclosed that “Statistics show that Nigerians spend an average of 80% of their incomes on food alone. This is why we fear that this recent increase will further push Nigerians deeper below the poverty line”.

Continuing, Benson noted that “This committee is confident that the government means well for Nigerians and has its justification for this action. This is what we want to hear at this investigative hearing. Nigerians need to understand the rationale behind this action. But beyond that, they need to be assured that this price hike will not have a more devastating effect on their livelihoods.

“We need to be able to convince Nigerians that their interest will always be protected. We therefore urge you to be open and objective in your submissions and provide the necessary information that will guide the committee in reaching a decision that will be mutually beneficial for the government and Nigerians in general since the primary goal of governance is the welfare of citizens”, he submitted.
Speaking at the event, the national president of IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Okoronkwo said that there is need for the federal government to approve funds for the commencement of conversion of vehicles from fuel to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Nigeria.

He said there is the need to reintroduce the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) scrapped by the Buhari administration to cushion the effect of the increase in price of fuel from the depots to remote parts of the nations.

According to him, the sum of N250 billion is the current debt profile of the federal government to its members in the defunct PEF and appealed to the House to help them recover the funds.
On the removal of fuel subsidy by the government, he said that it is a necessary move to checkmate the entrenched interest in the oil sector adding that it would have been better to cushion the effects of the removal with palliatives, agricultural inputs and access to credit facilities.

In his presentation, the managing director of Data Analytics Ltd, Mr Brain Amonu said that the reason why gas is being flared in the country is because there is no domestic market for its usage.

He said that there is a need to move the nation’s economy away from fossil fuel to other energy sources, adding that natural gas would reduce emission from fuel to as low as 20%.

He also canvassed the imperatives for energy transition from fuel to natural gas noting that there are over 3000 compressed gas stations in India as a nation. New Telegraph.