The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) has asked that fuel prices be restored to their previous levels, urging the Federal Government and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL) to comply.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, the committee’s chairman, described the petrol price increase as unacceptable. He stated that a situation in which private corporations exploited weaknesses in the system to generate arbitrary profits at the expense of Nigerians was detrimental to the country’s prosperity.
“We urge the Federal Government and, of course, the NNPCL to consider the plight of Nigerians and suspend this recent increase in pump price.”
According to him, Nigerians are currently going through a lot of challenges, and adding to the burden is not in our collective best interest.
“Let us revert to the old pump price as soon as possible and probably intensify engagements with major stakeholders to address the problem,” he said.
Doguwa, who is also the Chairman, Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Vandalization of Pipelines, also pledged to tackle the challenge caused by the loss of revenue to the government owing to the loss of crude. “As a special committee, we will aggressively seek modalities to interface with the youths and community leaders in the oil-producing areas.”
This, according to him, is to address the frequent cases of crude oil theft, which is capable of affecting petrol supply across the country.
“We are working in collaboration with security agencies in their quest to secure oil pipelines and other critical facilities in the country.
“We believe that a return to the old pump price will calm frayed nerves, thus enabling Nigerians to go about their daily activities with ease,” he noted.
The lawmaker also advised Nigerians to give the President Bola Tinubu-led administration a chance to reposition the oil and gas sector.
He stated that with the Petroleum Industry Act, coupled with the effort to revive the nation’s refineries, Nigeria would in no distant time reap the benefits of her oil and gas endowments.
“We believe that with interventions the government is making to commence operations at Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, these challenges will come to an end,” he said.
The NNPC Ltd. had on Tuesday directed its fuel sales outlets to increase their pump prices from the average of N617 to N897, a development that has almost immediately spiked prices, including market commodities and transportation.
