Pay only genuine subsidy claims, NLC tells FG

Nigeria Labour Congress on Sunday blamed the crisis in the oil sector on the delay in prosecuting subsidy thieves.

It also advised the government to verify all subsibdy claims to ensure that only genuine ones were paid.
The NLC stated these while commenting on the crisis between the Federal Government and oil marketers as well as the strike  by the Petrolum and Natural Gas Workers
Also, the President of the Petroleum of Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Mr. Babatunde Ogun, said the government should put in place strict condition on payment of susbsidy claims.
NUPENG is on strike to protest against the non-payment of subsidy claims to fuel importers.
The Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Mr. Chris Uyot, called for the prosecution of those indicted by the House of Representatives Committee and other panels set up to look into the disbursement of the subsidy fund.
According to him, the government has a responsibility to pay genuine importers and also commence the process to sanction those who got paid without rendering the services for which they received money.
He said, “This issue; those who have been indicted as a result of the probe committee of the House of Representatives and various investigations by the security agencies should be taken to court and if found guilty given appropriate punishment.
“However, it is apparent that the undue delay in bringing these people to book is causing all kinds of confusion within the oil sector.
“This protest against the fuel subsidy removal started in January and this is August. By now, all the checks and investigations on people’s claim should have been concluded, and those indicted prosecuted and punished. This is August, government does not even seem to know those indicted.”
Ogun said he was shocked by the controversy over the payment of subsidy claims of marketers.
The PENGASSAN President urged the government to put in place strict conditions for the clearance of subsidy payment not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Ogun said, “There will be no tenable reason for any negligence. There is a need too for various association , either union or employers,  to critically analyse all issues before embarking on strike.
“The masses cannot be punished for no reasons of theirs, I know government cannot refuse to pay for verifiable claims. It is also a wake-up call on government to handle domestic refining with speed.”
Meanwhile, the fuel scarcity in Abuja on Sunday took a different dimension as most filling stations in the nation’s capital completely shut down their operations.
The development compounded the woes of motorists who had, for the past five days, been spending a lot of time in fuel queues.
Some of the filling stations shut are Total, Conoil, Oando, African Petroleum, Oando, and the mega station of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The development also caused most residents to cancel their outings as a majority of them could not get fuel, resulting in low turnout at fun spots.
Our correspondent, who went round the city, observed that youths were selling Premium Motor Spirits  (petrol) in jerry cans.
Most of the black marketers sold petrol in 10 litre jerry cans for between N3, 500 and N4, 000.
They were seen in different parts of the city, including Garki, Wuse, Central Area, and in the suburbs such as Kubwa, Nyanya, Dutse, Mararaba, and Zuba.
Amid the crisis,  the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu,  on Friday called on the striking tanker drivers to call off the action and embrace the option of dialogue in the interest of Nigerians.
The Assistant Director in charge of Press in the Ministry of Labour, Mr. Samuel Olowokere, quoted Wogu as having made the comment in a meeting with representatives of the tanker drivers’ branch of NUPENG in Abuja, in a press statement on Saturday.
The Federal Government had last Friday allayed fears of fuel scarcity in the country saying the NNPC had enough fuel in its reserve that would last the country for 45 days.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke said the nation could not be thrown into another fuel scarcity.