The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) has demanded the reversal of fuel to the old price, urging the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to comply.
The chairman of the committee, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, in a statement on Thursday, September 5, 2024, described the hike in petrol as unacceptable.
Mr Ado-Doguwa said that a situation where private companies took advantage of gaps in the system to make arbitrary profits at the expense of Nigerians was inimical to the country’s progress.
“We urge the Federal Government and, of course, the NNPCL to consider the plight of Nigerians and suspend this recent increase in pump price,” the committee chairman said.
According to him, Nigerians are currently facing many challenges, and adding to the burden is not in our collective best interest.
“Let us revert to the old pump price as soon as possible and probably intensify engagements with major stakeholders to address the problem,” he said.
Doguwa, who doubles as the Chairman of the Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Vandalisation of Pipelines, also pledged to tackle the challenge caused by the loss of revenue to the government owing to the loss of crude.
“As a special committee, we will aggressively seek modalities to interface with the youths and community leaders in the oil-producing areas.”
This, according to him, is to address the frequent cases of crude oil theft, which is capable of affecting the petrol supply across the country.
“We are working in collaboration with security agencies in their quest to secure oil pipelines and other critical facilities in the country.
“We believe that a return to the old pump price will calm frayed nerves, thus enabling Nigerians to go about their daily activities with ease,” he noted.
The lawmaker also advised Nigerians to give the President Bola Tinubu-led administration a chance to reposition the oil and gas sector.
He stated that with the Petroleum Industry Act, coupled with the effort to revive the nation’s refineries, Nigeria would in no distant time, reap the benefits of her oil and gas endowments.
“We believe that with interventions the government is making to commence operations at Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, these challenges will come to an end,” he said.
The NNPCL had on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, directed its fuel sales outlets to increase their pump prices from the average of N617 to N897, a development which immediately spiked prices, including market commodities and transportation.