Senate Rejects Bill To Decentralise Kerosine Supply

President Goodluck Jonathan (right), receiving Letter of Credence from the Jamaican Ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs Ann Scott, in Abuja, on Tuesday. With them is the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri.

A bill seeking direct bulk allocation of kerosene from the
Pipelines and Products Marketing Company(PPMC) and Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), to kerosene peddlers suffered a setback in the Senate,
yesterday.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Nkechi Nwaogu, sought to ensure
that kerosene peddlers were given bulk allocation of kerosene for distribution
as against allocating the product to only major marketers.

Nwaogu, in her lead debate argued that the need for direct
allocation of kerosene to peddlers from PPMC/NNPC depots was timely due to
hardship peddlers encountered by their inability to lift it directly from the
depot.

According to her, the bill if passed into law, will go a
long way to ameliorate the difficulty kerosene consumers in the hinterland
encounter in accessing the product.

She also argued that this would stabilise and reduce the
chain of middlemen in the business of kerosene from depots to final users.

“The direct allocation of kerosene to the peddlers for
distribution will put smiles on the faces of kerosene consumers who constitute
80 per cent of Nigerian population and consume 104,000,000 litres of kerosene
monthly, Nwaogu said.

Sen. George Akume (ACN-Benue) in supporting the bill, said
it was simply a recognition of the needs of the common man.

Akume said the deregulation policy of the government was not
working due to poor implementation strategies, and added that the law would
ensure easy availability of kerosene to consumers.

He said that the non-availability of kerosene often led to
the felling of trees, a development that was hazardous to the environment.

Also contributing, Sen. Abdul Ningi (PDP-Bauchi) said the
bill had to do with the critical needs of the common man.

Sen. James Manager (PDP-Delta) noted that there was a
comprehensive bill before the Senate called the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)
that seeks to repeal all statutes relating to petroleum downstream.

Manager said that the proposed amendment be referred to the
committee handling the PIB at the appropriate time.

On his part, Sen. Emmanuel Paulker (PDP-Bayelsa) said he was
convinced that what the bill sought to address had already been taken care of
by PIB, and as such, the proposed law was not necessary.

Sen. Ayogu Eze (PDP-Enugu) described the term, peddlers,
used to refer to Nigerians, as derogatory, adding that the proposed law would
not address the problem but encourage corruption.

Sen. Smart Adeyemi(PDP-Kogi) said the proposed law would not
help the masses but entrench corruption in the system.

Sen. Ahmed Lawan (ANPP-Yobe) also opposed the bill on the
ground that if passed, it would be an admission that the country could not deal
with corruption.

Lawan also said it would be a clear indication that the
Senate was supporting “inefficiency, ineptitude and corruption.

Senate President David Mark, on his part, noted that the
solution was to ensure that those in charge of the distribution were efficient.

Mark said that the intention of the bill was good but noted
that on its own, it was not in the interest of the masses.

According to Mark, the bill will not solve poor distribution
of kerosene.

Nwaogu was eventually compelled to withdraw the bill.