… Says There’s Need to PMS Locally
By Daruwana Daku
The senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District in the10th Assembly, Sen. Victor Umeh, has reacted to the incessant hike of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as fuel, in Nigeria.
The senator who spoke from Awka through a political flagship programme, Politics Today, on Channels Television, on Monday, September 9, called on the executive arm of government to, as a matter of urgency, take decisive action in reducing the hike of the pump price.
In noting the sufferings that the masses were going through with the hike in price, the Senator confirmed that at the moment, fuel prices had gone up between N1, 250 and N1, 300 as as a result of what he described as the selfishness of the managers and operators of the petroleum sector. This was even as he also called for a total overhaul of the structures of the industry which he described as largely the mainstay of the nation’s economy.
According to him, the managers and operator of the sectors needed to be changed after working for five years without positive results.
‘The executives are not on vacation. So, when these things are happening, they have the unlimited power to deal with the issues. It is obvious that the petroleum industry needs a surgical overhauling of the sector.
‘If those who are there for five years are not able to solve the problem for Nigerians, I do not know what they are still doing there,’ the Senator noted.
As legislators who mediate on national issues of concern through oversight functions, Senator Umeh noted that the Senate had been doing their bit, even as they had reconvened from recess to address some issues.
The legislator, who is also a member of the upstream petroleum resources, maintained that irrespective of the current recess that was being observed by the National Assembly, as legislators who understood the suffering and plight of the constituents, their voice would be projected on the issues of fuel pump price as soon as the resumed on the 17th September.
While commenting that the fuel price hike which he described as a national crisis should have been avoided through reviving the refineries or building new ones, he further noted the need for Nigerians to produce PMS locally in the country.
He appealed to the executive to find ways in getting the refineries working, stating that it was only local production of fuel that could solve the continued hike in the fuel pump price.
He said the subsidy removal policy was made in a rush as there were no plans to cushion the effects of subsidy removal before it was hastily done.
Reacting to the ensuing political crisis in the Labour Party with regard to the structure and caretaker committee leaders of the party and as to whether the caucus of the party had the legal backing to constitute the Nanadi Usman Caretaker Committee, the Senator said that because the party did not have a legitimate executive at the moment, constituting the caretaker committee of the party was not necessary.
‘Those who are claiming that they have the power to constitute the caretaker committee have not told Nigerians that their tenure in office has since expired as a result of expulsion or time.
‘Because they did not do what they were supposed to do to bring in a succeeding leadership of the party, the party is now without leadership,’ the Senator said.
As to what informed the caucus of the party to meet in Abia and constitute the Usman Caretaker Committee, Sen Umeh said that it was as a result of the leaderless challenges of the party that led to the caucus to take a consensus decision.
