The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has urged the Federal Government to urgently fix the refineries before removing subsidies to boost the economy.
The Lagos Zonal Council Chairman of the union, comprising Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos and Kwara states, Tayo Aboyeji, stated this in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, after his inauguration into the office for a four-year tenure.
Aboyeji, stated that what Nigeria needed was more refineries built by either the private sector or the government to refine and sell the products locally.
He lamented the delay by the Federal Government in actualisation its promise to ensure that modular refineries take off in the Niger Delta since 2016.
He noted that the current scarcity as a result of the time lag in returning the adulterated fuel and bringing in a good product.
He said: “This current scarcity is as a result of importation of bad fuel because we cannot use it in Nigeria. The time-lag of retrieving the bad one and bringing another one has caused this scarcity.
“So, as a union, we condemn it and we want to call on the Federal Government to punish those responsible in bringing in the bad fuel.
“In fact, we recommend their sack and prosecution because Nigerians did not bargain for this kind of situation.”
The new chairman said deregulation could not be implemented now because it would add to the suffering of the masses.
“What I will ask the government to do is to, as a matter of urgency, fix all the refineries. We don’t have to depend on the importation of fuel and as long as we are depending on the importation of fuel, we will have problems with the possibility of the price going up every other time.
“Deregulation is good but not import driven deregulation. If we have the product locally, we can deregulate but you cannot sell our crude to some people to refine it and bring it back and say you want to deregulate. That is double jeopardy,” he said.
Aboyeji pledged his renewed commitment to the union and to continue to proffer solutions to various challenges in the sector.
However, National Vice President, NUPENG, Mr. Haliru Bello, said the current scarcity should be seen as a temporary issue.
He said: “If removal of subsidy is what will better the economy of this country, let it be, but if it’s something that will put us into the crisis we are already in, I think it should not be.”
But in an interview, National Chairman, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, a branch of NUPENG, Mr. Salimon Oladiti, said that deregulation should be liberal and not placed under regulated law.
Oladiti said: “The unions are supporting deregulation but we don’t want deregulation under importation.”