IPMAN Cautions Sanusi, El-Rufai over Comments on Fuel Subsidy Removal

Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

The northern chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has called on the former Emir of Kano, Malam Muhammad Sanusi II and Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai to stop making unguarded comments on the oil and gas sector.

According to the group, with the current economic situation in the country removal of fuel subsidy would cause more hardship for Nigerians especially the common man.

The Chairman of IPMAN Northern chapter, Alhaji Bashir Danmalam told reporters in Kano yesterday that: “What happened after the subsidy of gas (diesel) was withdrawn? The price of anything you can think of has gone up as a liter of diesel is now being sold at N850.”

Danmalam was reacting to Sanusi’s comments at the 7th edition of the Kaduna Economic and Investment Summit where he had expressed pity for the incoming president on account of the scale of economic challenges awaiting him, particularly the knotty issue of petroleum subsidy and debt service.

“The reform of the oil sector has already started by the passing of the PIA by Mr. President, with a 24- month transition period.

“The management of NNPC must be commended for their consistency in seeing the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was passed and implemented to the letter.”

He said the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and El-Rufa’i had for long been talking about the removal of subsidy at every forum they found themselves.

“Today, the NNPC has completed its transition and is now a full-fledged limited liability company with strategic commanding shares in the nearly completed Dangote refinery, the largest refining in the world.

“It means that as Nigeria exits fuel subsidy, the management of NNPC has invested wisely in local refining capacity to boost domestic consumption, eliminate importation, ease the pressure on our forex, straighten the naira, provide jobs and boost our GDP.

“Mele Kyari and his team deserve commendation for their doggedness, patriotism and nationalism.

The issue of removing fuel subsidies has to be gradual in order to make it effective and result-oriented for national economic growth and development.”

He noted that the governors and their states have always been fed mainly by the hard work and earnings of the NNPC over the years, adding that,

“the NNPC has moved on, let’s see how the states fare.”

On the volume of petrol being consumed in Nigeria on a daily basis, Danmalam advised the former Emir and El-Rufai to visit all the depots where the product was being kept before distribution to ascertain whether it was being imported or not.

He said there was a time the association wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari calling on his government to constitute a committee, including the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and all the relevant stakeholders to investigate the volume of fuel being imported and consumed on a daily basis.

According to Danmalam, if the former Emir and El-Rufai were smart, they would have helped Kaduna state to be independent of FAAC allocation like what Tinubu and his successors did by making Lagos to survive even without FAAC allocation, but they did not.