ODIEN Ajumogobia, minister of state for petroleum resources have said that trade unions in the oil industry had all along been part of the deliberations on the deregulation policy that government says was to take off by November 1. Meanwhile, no new date has been fixed for the take-off of the policy.
According to the minister, who spoke at the Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) conference in Lagos, the members of the unions were part of the Oil and Gas Industry reform Committee (OGIC) that agreed on the policy.
 “The OGIC reforms committee had on board members of the unions as part of the meeting. In the post submission of the report to the president, we have continued to engage them,” Ajumogobia said.
The minister pointed to some who were previously opposed the policy as having had a change of heart with better understanding of the matter.
“Some in the opposition are no longer as opposed as they use to in the part because they have seen the benefits.
“We need to carry along critical stakeholders such as the labour unions. We have an unprecedented collaboration with stakeholders” he said.
The minister said the federal government is taking steps to improve the downstream sub-sector.
Listing the efforts of the government so far, the minister enjoined other stakeholders in the industry to join hands with government. “Government and other stakeholders must ensure the upgrading of ports and other facilities. Government has embarked on areas to reduce the cost of refining and distribution of refined products. Government is embarking on repairs of damaged pipelines. There are plans by the NNPC to increase the number of facilities for the distribution of products in different parts of the country. The government is embarking on massive rehabilitation of roads and railways for effective distribution of production. This includes the dredging of the River Niger. We must start now. We must not wait until the initiatives are concluded. Deregulation is the best way to go despite the short term sacrifice that would be endured”.
Meanwhile, indications emerged on last week that the federal government was yet to decide on a new date for the take off of the policy following shelving of the November 1 date earlier announced.
Adetokunbo Kayode, the Minister of Labour and Productivity made the revelation in Abuja on last week, “Government is yet to decide on the commencement date.”
The decision to postpone the take-off of the contentious downstream petroleum sector deregulation followed a meeting on the matter between labour and government’s representatives in Abuja. “This is a fallout from a meeting comprising the two ministers for petroleum, the labour minister, and the leaders of Nupeng, Pengassan, and the TUC, that was held last week Thursday,” a source who attended the meeting said. “Although the government said the November 1 date was sacrosanct, we were able to show them that under the present situation government cannot go ahead with deregulation as planned”.
The shift by the government contradicts statements by Ajumogobia, who told the OTL conference delegates in Lagos that there was no going back on the date, and pleaded with the public to support the government to do away with the subsidy regime, which he said is fraught with corruption. “We can’t wait for all things to come in place before we start. Let’s not make perfection the enemy of progress” Ajumogobia has said.
Explaining the reason for the shift in the take off of the policy, Kayode said, “Government will pursue a policy that will seek to improve and expand the capacity of our refineries, and also get more refineries to work.”
The Labour Minister said that whenever government is ready to implement the deregulation policy; it will carry along all the labour unions and relevant trade groups. Labour unions, the biggest opposition to the deregulation plans, argue that the deregulation policy must be based on increasing local refining capacity, by repairing and expanding the 435,000 barrel per day capacity of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) refineries.
Labour also say that the reception facilities for discharging imported refined products at the nation’s ports must be upgraded while the shallow water depth of the ports must be dredged to allow huge vessels come directly to berth and offload products.
The unions noted that the government has not done anything to prevent a possible hijack of a deregulated downstream by industry cartels.
In response to the Labour Minister’s denial of the November 1 commencement date, Babatunde Ogun, president of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (Pengassan) said it is a better choice by government. “It is clear that government is not ready for deregulation. All necessary conditions for meaningful deregulation as requested by Pengassan are yet to be met”.
The Labour minister said the Federal Government is trying to put in place necessary machinery that will make cheap industrial fuel available to the critical manufacturing sector, so that factories will not need to buy fuel from the market.
“This is very important, so that those who are employing people can have access to cheap fuel. Government is taking a two-prong approach on the issue. I want Nigerians to be patient, because policies take time to mature,” he pleaded.