DExplorer1:


The House of Representatives has cut short its resumption of plenary by one day — from Tuesday to Monday (today) — to take a position on the issue of the removal of the subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government.

The House summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, on Sunday, to appear today and explain why the government jacked up the pump price of petrol to N145 from N86.50k.



The minister is to address lawmakers at the session to be presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, beginning by 12pm.

Dogara had on Friday last week, hinted that members would debate the fuel price increase this week and take a position on the new price regime.

He spoke in Abuja while granting audience to a delegation from the National Council of Ulamas of the Jamatu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah at the National Assembly.

Dogara had stated that the House would not support any policy that would “further impoverish” Nigerians, but clarified that the final decision would be taken by all the 360 lawmakers this week.

He said, “I do not want to come out with an opinion because I know that the matter, very soon, will come to the floor of the House of Representatives and as the presiding officer, I don’t want to give my opinion before that time.

“But, one thing we can take home and assure our followers is that we will never allow any measure to be embarked upon by the government that would further impoverish our people.

“And so, there are times as leaders, that we take very difficult decisions. The reason why we came to a position where this country was waiting to explode was because any time we were confronted with difficulties, we had always taken the easiest way out.

“We never involved ourselves in taking hard, very hard choices for our people. This is a matter that is subject to further re-examination and as a parliament, we will listen to all.

“In the House of Representatives, we represent everyone, whether it is the government, labour, whatever the institutions, we are their representatives; so when the matter comes, we will look at it and ensure that everything is resolved.

“Even if there is a conflict, I am sure we will play a mediatory role.”

Investigations by The PUNCH on Sunday showed that the leadership of the House resolved to convene the special session today soon after Dogara’s meeting with the delegation ended on Friday.

It will be recalled that in 2012, the House had convened a similar session to oppose the decision of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to remove fuel subsidy.

Amid the mounting opposition from across Nigeria, the Jonathan-led administration later settled for a pump price of N97 per litre.

The administration later reduced the pump price to N86.50 before it jumped to N145 last week as the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari announced the total removal of subsidy.

The development came as the Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, a known pro-subsidy legislator, made a U-turn to kick against the continued retention of subsidy.

It was Gbajabiamila, who led a debate on the floor of the House in 2012 to berate Jonathan’s decision to remove fuel subsidy.

However, he told The PUNCH on Sunday that he was compelled to change his mind and support subsidy removal because the “overwhelming” evidence on the ground had shown that subsidy was not sustainable.

He added, “But, now, for the first time, I was at a stakeholders’ meeting with the Vice-President’s office, with labour leaders, by the time a graphic picture of what was happening, with facts and figures, was reeled out, and what was about to happen if we continued this way, much as I resisted, it was clear to me that we might not even have a country in a couple of months.

“I saw clearly that no state would be able to pay salaries in two months’ time, even oil-producing states would not be able to pay salaries, if there was no federal allocation.

“At that point, I was caught between the devil and deep blue sea. It was now a question of do you want to resist the removal of subsidy and then down the line you can’t even pay salaries?

“I came to the very painful conclusion that in the short term, deregulation was the best way to go and that in the long term, it will pay off for everybody.”

However, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party members described the government’s move as “laughable.”

They asked why it took the government so long to see what Jonathan saw many years ago and resolved to fix it but he was opposed.

The Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Leo Ogor, in particular, asked the government to apologise to the PDP.

The Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Mr. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, a PDP member, also called for an apology from the Buhari government.


source: http://punchng.com/reps-summon-kachikwu-fuel-subsidy-removal/



***********************************************************************************************
Meeting scheduled for today. Issues of palliative measures would also be discussed.

MODIFIED: The fuel increment has been a major issue for the last few day. I think this meeting is an important one and i will take time out to sensitize the people on this meeting. I believe the benefits are enormous.

amazingspiderma:
I find it worrying that the finance minister who balances the books is not in anyway part of this subsidies episode at least to give us a break down of how the numbers add up.
Either the house is not taking a holistic approach to the root causes of fuel subsidy removal or she has been warned to stay mute so that Kachukwu will carry the weight alone.
This administration is fantastically complicated.

saltoftheearth:
Must states rely on allocation from federal government to pay salaries? This rep, Gbajabiamila is a joker. So their argument is to push the weight States are dreading on Nigerians instead? They better carry their burdens? State governments should wake up and seek ways of generating revenue internally with new ideas and strategies. APC should stop all this propaganda. Reverse back to 86:50 and lets see what happens in 2 months. Nigeria will not collapse. Laziness is what is killing our senators, state governors and politicians. They should stop depending on the center and crude oil for survival. They keep given examples of countries that have successfully deregulated. HOW MANY OF THESE COUNTRIES HAVE THE POOR POWER SITUATION WE HAVE IN NIGERIA. This government should get one thing right first before considering the next.

pendusky:


Lol, APC deceiving Nigerians, That's indirect way of devaluing naira...

DExplorer1:

I really don't think anyone would want to sell at N90 or N95 considering the CBN exchange rate and the fact that marketers would want to exploit the situation. But the good part of it is the sales limit of N145. Maybe, just maybe, a strong competition would make fuel stations bring their prices down. A typical example is, if you sell at N135 and i sell at N145, i'm sure you will be taking most of my 'customers.'

To your 2nd question, there will be little or no queue at our petrol stations and the product will be very available. As concerning meters been adjusted, well, that's a Nigerian factor we're talking as i'm sure that many of them have fuel in their tanks before the pronouncement.

DExplorer1:
LIVE UPDATE: ON PALLIATIVES

Firstly
"State will get money required. Labour force would be paid..."

Secondly
"social investments for over 8 million Nigerians"

Third among many others
"more workforce will be created as there's a lost of over 250,000 jobs in the off stream section...we are creating them back"

DExplorer1:

Gbajabiamila is right! All the states depend on allocation before they can do anything. I think the last time i saw a creative state project that can generate income was the building of the Tinapa Business Resort. To rely on allocation has been the circle and even if they come up with ideas and strategies, don't you think that will reduce state allocation? I guess they've been thinking like that.

Talking about the senators, i would have prefer the unrealistic protest of labour to be directed toward the salaries, cars and whotnot those people enjoy than destructing the on-going progressive process in the oil sector.

Also i think the government is on the right track. They got this right. I heard Kachikwu said over N1billion has been saved since the removal of fuel subsidy. I believe part of this money would be channeled toward the power project also, besides, there will be more money to power various federal projects and payment of civil servants' salaries.

Mayflowa:


Yeah...you can say that again! I do not really know why a govt believes there is dollars out side their coffer. How would black market get dollars? Who gives them the dollars?

ochukwuma15:


Thanks for your answers.
I was against the removal of fuel subsidy in 2012 by the Jonathan's administration because he didn't consult Nigerians before the removal.

Now Buhari’s administration has done the same mistake. Surely, subsidy has to go but you have to prepare our minds for the hardship ahead before you remove it.

Jonathan wake up from sleep on new year day and as early as 5:30 in the morning he was already at Radio Nigeria announcing the removal of fuel subsidy and increase in fuel pump price. How he got to radio Nigeria by 5:30am is still a mystery to me.

4 years after, Buhari called Kachukwu and said, "Bros I'm going to Britain, remove the fuel subsidy immediately I leave. You know that I have already told them that there's nothing like fuel subsidy".

Why are they behaving like maffians.
Can't we all discuss about this for at least one month, prepare our minds for the hard times ahead, put in some pariative measures and remove the subsidy.

DExplorer , my question is :
kachukwu didn't call a spade, a spade. I mean that he didn't call it subsidy removal, what happens when another government comes in and start telling us that there are still subsidy?

saltoftheearth:
Every area of government services is worse than Buhari's government met it. They have given false hope and lied to Nigerians at every turn. They have shown us they cannot be trusted. Which is why i suggest they should fulfill at least one of their campaign promises to Nigerians before embarking on this gamble. Power generation is worst ever. They said refineries are working at full capacity, yet there is no fuel. The free meal for schools is nowhere to be seen. They even denied it. Kachikwu said fuel will be surplus in May. Instead he shifted the goal post by increasing pump price. Nigerians don't trust Buhari and his government again. We cannot gamble at this level with a leadership we do not trust. Why can't they focus on power for the next 6 months using money recovered by EFCC, provide a certain level of power generation and stability then proceed with pump price increase. If they are saying Fed government cannot afford to pay for import of fuel, the solution is simple. STOP IMPORTING FUEL!. Make the existing refineries work and build more. Abacha made this fuel importing the norm. Buhari can decide to stop it. We can achieve local production and refining of our crude. All payments are made in naira. But like i said, our politicians are so lazy and always seeking a quick fix that may backfire later.

DExplorer1:


The House of Representatives has cut short its resumption of plenary by one day — from Tuesday to Monday (today) — to take a position on the issue of the removal of the subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government.

The House summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, on Sunday, to appear today and explain why the government jacked up the pump price of petrol to N145 from N86.50k.



The minister is to address lawmakers at the session to be presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, beginning by 12pm.

Dogara had on Friday last week, hinted that members would debate the fuel price increase this week and take a position on the new price regime.

He spoke in Abuja while granting audience to a delegation from the National Council of Ulamas of the Jamatu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatis Sunnah at the National Assembly.

Dogara had stated that the House would not support any policy that would “further impoverish” Nigerians, but clarified that the final decision would be taken by all the 360 lawmakers this week.

He said, “I do not want to come out with an opinion because I know that the matter, very soon, will come to the floor of the House of Representatives and as the presiding officer, I don’t want to give my opinion before that time.

“But, one thing we can take home and assure our followers is that we will never allow any measure to be embarked upon by the government that would further impoverish our people.

“And so, there are times as leaders, that we take very difficult decisions. The reason why we came to a position where this country was waiting to explode was because any time we were confronted with difficulties, we had always taken the easiest way out.

“We never involved ourselves in taking hard, very hard choices for our people. This is a matter that is subject to further re-examination and as a parliament, we will listen to all.

“In the House of Representatives, we represent everyone, whether it is the government, labour, whatever the institutions, we are their representatives; so when the matter comes, we will look at it and ensure that everything is resolved.

“Even if there is a conflict, I am sure we will play a mediatory role.”

Investigations by The PUNCH on Sunday showed that the leadership of the House resolved to convene the special session today soon after Dogara’s meeting with the delegation ended on Friday.

It will be recalled that in 2012, the House had convened a similar session to oppose the decision of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to remove fuel subsidy.

Amid the mounting opposition from across Nigeria, the Jonathan-led administration later settled for a pump price of N97 per litre.

The administration later reduced the pump price to N86.50 before it jumped to N145 last week as the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari announced the total removal of subsidy.

The development came as the Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, a known pro-subsidy legislator, made a U-turn to kick against the continued retention of subsidy.

It was Gbajabiamila, who led a debate on the floor of the House in 2012 to berate Jonathan’s decision to remove fuel subsidy.

However, he told The PUNCH on Sunday that he was compelled to change his mind and support subsidy removal because the “overwhelming” evidence on the ground had shown that subsidy was not sustainable.

He added, “But, now, for the first time, I was at a stakeholders’ meeting with the Vice-President’s office, with labour leaders, by the time a graphic picture of what was happening, with facts and figures, was reeled out, and what was about to happen if we continued this way, much as I resisted, it was clear to me that we might not even have a country in a couple of months.

“I saw clearly that no state would be able to pay salaries in two months’ time, even oil-producing states would not be able to pay salaries, if there was no federal allocation.

“At that point, I was caught between the devil and deep blue sea. It was now a question of do you want to resist the removal of subsidy and then down the line you can’t even pay salaries?

“I came to the very painful conclusion that in the short term, deregulation was the best way to go and that in the long term, it will pay off for everybody.”

However, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party members described the government’s move as “laughable.”

They asked why it took the government so long to see what Jonathan saw many years ago and resolved to fix it but he was opposed.

The Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Leo Ogor, in particular, asked the government to apologise to the PDP.

The Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Mr. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, a PDP member, also called for an apology from the Buhari government.


source: http://punchng.com/reps-summon-kachikwu-fuel-subsidy-removal/



***********************************************************************************************
Meeting scheduled for today. Issues of palliative measures would also be discussed.

MODIFIED: The fuel increment has been a major issue for the last few day. I think this meeting is an important one and i will take time out to sensitize the people on this meeting. I believe the benefits are enormous.

incomintop:
Fulanis are very smart people using Igbo man kachikwu to defend their dirty policy

incomintop:


You are derailing from the question of this thread
We are saying why will the house representative allow a junior minister address them when the senior minister Buhari is in town

DExplorer1:

I agree things are hard, even Kachickwu agreed. But also, if we check widely, it's a global problem. Most African oil producing nation are affected but it's not reflecting because they're NOT subsidizing. Again, the clampdown on corruption and sudden adjustment by involved individuals, companies can shake any economy since these people run the economy before now. Campaign promises are gradually kept, i can tick 4 visible promises kept already within the one-year of Buhari's Administration. I don't agree if you say there is no fuel, there are more supplies now. The Kaduna, Warri and Portharcourt refineries are working at full capacity and i've not seen queue anywhere in the last few weeks.

When Kachikwu said May on National TV, i was listening and i heard him right. The goal post was not shifted. He said there would be relief from May and that queue will disappear from fuel stations. My brother, he was right!

Lastly, talking about money recovered by the EFCC, i had wait till May 29 for the president to inform us articulately on how the money has been spent. But if you ask me, putting a dead refinery to work is million in dollars. Also, we can't stop importing fuel until we get all refineries working at full capacity. Nigeria is the highest consumption of petroleum products, considering our population and not importing is total break-down and so far, from what Kachikwu said, we have 3 companies we dealing with and it's in naira exchange price basis not in dollars. There's no quick fix to Nigeria's problems, this administration met them on ground and is working to fix them.

incomintop:

That's not point is why will a junior address the parliament