The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources( Upstream) has charged the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to revert to the old pump price of Premium Motor Spirit ( PMS).
The committee, in a statement by its chairman, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, on Thursday night, said Nigerians are currently going through several challenges and adding to their burdens is not in the best interest of the country.
The NNPCL had, on Tuesday, hiked the price of PMS, resulting in the product selling for between N880 to N970 per litre, at filling stations.
The recent increase has generated anger in the polity, with citizens calling on the government to rescind the increase.
Doguwa, who also chairs the House Special Committee on Oil Theft, decried a situation where private companies exploit gaps in the system to make arbitrary profits at the expense of Nigerians.
He noted that “as a committee, we urge the Nigerian government and of course the NNPCL to consider the plight of Nigerians and suspend this recent increase in pump price. Nigerians are currently going through a lot today and adding to this burden is not in our collective best interest. Let us revert to the old pump price as soon as possible.”
The lawmaker stated that the House Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Vandalisation of pipelines, is committed to tackling the challenges caused by loss of revenue to the government owing to loss of crude oil through thefts and pipeline vandalism.
According to him, “as a special committee, we will aggressively seek modalities to interface with the youths and community leaders in the oil-producing areas to address the frequent cases of crude oil theft, which is one of the reasons 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.”
Furthermore, Doguwa urged Nigerians to give the President Tinubu-led government a chance to reposition the oil and gas sector.
He stated that with the Petroleum Industry Act, as well as effort to revive the nation’s refineries, the country would reap the benefit of her oil and gas endowments to the benefit of the entire citizenry.
“We may be suffering today but tomorrow will be better. The government of the day is taking significant steps which may be painful today but very soon, we will beat our chest as proud Nigerians because the future is great. Tinubu means well for us and he is desirous of leaving a legacy that future generations will be proud of,” he noted.
