Bayelsa TUC Chairman Advocates Privatisation of FG Owned Refineries

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

The Bayelsa state Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Julius Laye has advocated for the privatisation of the federal government owned four Refineries.

 He also called on President Bola Tinubu led federal government to fast track the issuance of modular refinery licenses to capable investors interested in the business.

Laye who  made the call in Yenagoa, while exchanging views with journalists on contemporary issues about the state of the nation, said, the move apart from mitigating the effects of fuel subsidy’ removal; would also impact positively  on the GDP growth, boost  employment, taxes, and exports.

He said emphatically that management of refineries under NNPC Limited, and by extension in the hands of the federal government have not been effective..

The TUC boss recalled that between 2015 to 2022, Nigeria’s government spent billions of Naira to resuscitate the nation’s refineries in order to make the petroleum product available at affordable pump price; but nothing good come out of it.

 He decried the scenario where Nigeria, a leading crude oil producer; is now a notoriously importer of petroleum products with devastating effect.

“It is amazing and uncalled for, for us to have crude oil in this country ; for us to have refineries in this country, and to take our product out; and then buy it, create scarcity and make us disadvantage in terms of foreign exchange.

And that is why the US Dollar, the money used in the international market; exchange rate is high in Nigeria,” he said

He lamented that since the federal government promised to establish Modular refineries in all oil producing communities during Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visit to the Niger Delta region to make the petroleum product available at affordable pump price, nothing has been done till now.