- Approves procurement of operational vehicles for NPA, NIMASA
- As Petrol price fails to crash despite Kachikwu’s assurances
The Federal Government, more than 12 years after liquidating the Nigerian Airways, expressed regret over the reported deaths of many of the workers, occasioned by the delay, in the payment of their entitlements.
The defunct national carrier was liquidated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime in 2005, and the workers had since been embarking on protests nationwide over their unpaid entitlements.
Breaking the good news, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, told State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, that N45 billion has now been approved for the settlement of the ex-workers’ entitlements.
“Governments, in the past, decided just to liquidate Nigerian airways without tending to the issue of the entitlements of the workers and they have been struggling to get that paid and we came in government and we took it very seriously.
“I’m happy to announce that Mr President has approved N45 billion which has been confirmed to be the entitlements of these workers and Ministry of Finance has been instructed to pay and the ministry has written to me last week, to say that they have received the instruction to pay these workers, and therefore, they are setting up the modalities to pay.
“You should know it won’t pay through my ministry before somebody will say I take some of it. It will be paid by finance through a process, and that process will commence very soon,’’ he said, noting that the Council also approved the procurement of operational vehicles for Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Sirika also revealed that he briefed the council on the certifications of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), adding that both certificates were huge achievements toward security and safety in the aviation sector.
He pointed out that the airport was the first international Airport in Nigeria to meet the requirement by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and NCAA regulations.
On Aviation’s workers opposition to the concessioning of the nation’s airports, the minister assured that the process would be transparently carried out, saying that the workers would also be engaged in the process.
The Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association (ATSSAN), and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), had vowed to resist the plan, saying, if necessary, the workers would mobilize and buy over the airports themselves.
Sirika, who dismissed social media reports that he “stole or intend to spend N635 million’’ on the concessioning project, said the workers in the aviation sector would be actively involved in the process so as to address all labour issues.
The minister stated that the government could not fund infrastructure in the aviation sector through public budget, saying that government would continue to partner with the private sector in financing such infrastructural facilities in the sector.
The author of “Nigerian Aviation Fact Book,” Mike Chikeka, said it had become impossible for government to continue to fund airport development.
He warned that airport facilities would become obsolete and possibly jeopardize safety if the private sector was not allowed to rescue the aviation sector.
The Assistant General Secretary of NUATE, Mr. Olayinka Abioye, said government was not putting the interest of the workers into consideration and threatened that the workers would resist the plan to concession the airports.
Abioye recalled that when the defunct national carrier was liquidated, workers were left to die without their pay off or their pensions.
However, the minister stated the concession of the airports would continue in line with the policy of the current government.
“We don’t have the money to invest and develop these airports. In our opinion as a government and the policy has been done that we will go through concession to give some individuals who would build; who would operate; who would maintain, sustain, make money and government will also make money in the process and return back to government after certain number of years (20 to 25 years).’’
Sirika disclosed that the concession of all the nation’s airports had since been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari as well as the Federal Executive Council.
The minister also revealed that the council had approved the hosting of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) World Aviation Conference, to be held between Nov. 20 and 22.
He said the conference, which would be first outside Canada, was meant to deliberate on aviation infrastructure and other related aviation matters.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige, said he briefed the council on the outcomes of the various industrial actions embarked upon by some trade unions in the country.
The minister dismissed the insinuation that he once described United Labour Congress (ULC) as an illegal labour union, saying that the congress had since applied for registration as a labour centre or labour federation.
He however commended the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Resident Doctors’ Association for suspending their strike actions.
In the meantime, fifteen months after the price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, was increased by 68 per cent, consumers have yet to see any significant decrease in the price, contrary to the promise by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.
The Federal Government on May 11, 2016 announced the removal of fuel subsidy, with a new petrol price band of N135 to N145 per litre, up from N86 and N86.50.
It said with the liberalization of the downstream sector, “any Nigerian entity is now free to import the product, subject to existing quality specifications and other guidelines issued by regulatory agencies.”
Following opposition by many Nigerians to the fuel hike, Kachikwu said by opening up the space for people to perform, to practice their trade, “you will be amazed at what will happen to your N145 price because it will go downwards.
“We mean well and Nigerians should please trust us. Give us a chance; you will be surprised what will become of your PMS’ price over the next six to eight months.”
More than a year after the hike, a litre of the PMS is still being sold for N145 or more in many parts of the country.
States with the highest average price of the PMS in August were Plateau (146.4), Rivers (145.5) and Zamfara (N145.4), according to the latest Premium Motor Spirit Watch obtained from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics.
It said states with the lowest average price of the PMS were Nasarawa (N143), Oyo (N143.2) and Lagos and Ondo (N143.3).
The NBS said the average price paid by consumers for the PMS decreased by 1.9 per cent year-on-year and by 2.5 per cent month-on-month to 144.4 in August from N148.2 in July.
Asked when the price of fuel would come down at a media chat on Twitter on Monday, Kachikwu said, “Anything can affect the pricing either way as recently seen in the US where the hurricane induced an almost 15 per cent increase.
“Efficiency of refineries will definitely help,” the minister said, adding that there were plans to refurbish the nation’s existing refineries.
Early this month, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation claimed that its sustained strategic intervention in the efficient supply and distribution petroleum products had led to “significant fall in the prices of the Premium Motor Spirit nationwide.”
It said a national survey by Oil and Gas Forum, the NNPC’s weekly TV programme, indicated that in the last few weeks, the price of petrol had fallen steadily from N145 per litre to between N142 and N143 per litre in some stations across the country.
The corporation said the study showed that the NNPC mega and affiliate stations across the country were selling the product for N143 per litre, while the pump price ranged between N142 and N145 per litre in some major and independent marketers in Lagos, Abuja, Sokoto, Enugu, Delta and other major cities.
Energy specialists at Ecobank Capital, in a new report, noted that the NNPC recently started stockpiling the PMS with aim of securing a stable supply while the refineries would undergo some rehabilitation and to prevent any significant social, economic and political problems in the event of oil supply shortages.
According to the report, there is an accumulated 1.64 billion litres of petrol in stock which will last the country up to 46 days of petrol consumption, with an additional 1.125 billion litres expected to be delivered by the end of this month, raising the country’s storage to about 79 days of petroleum consumption (35 million litres daily).
The Head of Energy Research, Ecobank, Mr. Dolapo Oni, said, “In our opinion, the presence of this stockpile could considerably support further reduction in the pump price of petrol. However, the reduction is based entirely on the NNPC’s decision to sell at a lower price as against a market-driven reduction in prices.
Additional report from Punch