Oil Subsidy Removal Is Sabotage – Senator

Vice Chairman of the senate committee on Power an Steel Development, Senator Chris Ngige has condemned the planned removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, saying it will only increase economic hardship in the country.

Ngige who spoke to newsmen in an interview expressed he belief that supporting the subsidy removal means supporting corruption.

Describing the subsidy removal as economic sabotage, he decried the situation where Nigeria imports about 80 per  cent of petroleum products.

He said: “We can not support the removal of oil subsidy. Supporting it is to support corruption to strive in the country because the subsidy is arising from the major fact that Nigeria is importing 80 per cent of our petroleum products.”

Meanwhile, the senate has commenced meetings with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA) and some multinational oil operators and major operators in the county.

The meetings are geared towards bringing down cost of doing business in the oil sector. The meetings are also geared to drive reforms in oil sector ahead of the consideration of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which has lingered in the National Assembly since 2008.

In a full session of the National Assembly, the House of Representatives suspended work on the PIB after a major disagreement among members.

In the senate, only two clauses were considered before the end of that session.

The meeting between the stakeholders in the oil sector was centred on the Petroleum resources upstream headed by Senator Emmanuel Paulker.

Shedie Okpara