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Head of Gani Fawehinmi Chambers and son of the late legal luminary, Mr.
Mohammed Fawehinmi, has urged the Federal Government to suspend the
planned deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry,
saying what was expected of the government was to put the existing
refineries in a good working condition and cater for the well-being of
Nigerians.
Fawehinmi, in a statement signed and made available to
THISDAY, said the Federal Government and the National Assembly
were expected to have a rethink in their quest to deregulate the
downstream sector of the petroleum industry in view of the drastic
effect on the masses and the economy yet to fully recover from the
global economic meltdown.
According to him, “this is the first effect of the yet-to-be
implemented deregulation, which according to the government, no date
has been fixed. You can imagine the after effect of full deregulation
of the petroleum downstream on Nigerians when the date is fixed”.
He continued: “I have been proven right by the recent developments in
the downstream sector of the petroleum industry with particular
reference to the current artificial scarcity of petroleum products in
Nigeria, a country so endowed with enough petroleum products to
adequately cater for her citizens yet are living in adverse scarcity”.
He however congratulated Alhaji Rilwan Lukman, Minister of Petroleum;
Mr. Henry Odein Ajumogobia, Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. M. S.
Barkindo Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr. G. U. Agha, Director,
Department of Petroleum Resources, Senator Paul Emmanuel, Chairman,
Senate Committee on Petroleum, Hon Clever Ikisikpo, Chairman, House
Committee on Petroleum, and Mallam Lamido Sanusi Governor, Central Bank
of Nigeria, for their outstanding performance in governance
in recent times.
Fawehinmi added that the seven government officials he congratulated
should remember that the voice of the people is the voice of God,
adding: “Nigerians in one voice are saying no to deregulation and
please stop the deregulation plans now.” He said their predecessors in
office had inherited the demons of failure, evident in the long queues
of vehicles at petrol stations across the country waiting to buy fuel
with the large number of the poor masses of the country wanting to
purchase kerosene, adding that the situation has become a recurring
decimal in the last 25 years.
Fawehinmi, while quoting one of the national dailies signed by the
Head, Corporate Affairs, CBN, Mr. M. Abdullah captioned ‘CBN Supports
Deregulation’ that read as “…the CBN therefore wishes to state
categorically that it is in full support of the federal government’s
policy on deregulation…”
He said the statement clearly shows that the CBN Governor was in full
support of the imminent deregulation policy of the federal government,
noting that the CBN governor himself was hoping to sell the interests
in the banks to foreign partners and investors.
He added that “this is a dangerous development and must stop him by
every reasonable legal means possible. The CBN boss should prioritise
his interests, plans and policies on proving suitable platform for a
stable financial system and visible improvement of the economy of this
country instead of supporting deregulation”.
Africa Views – This Day November 2009
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