By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Deputy President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has once again kicked against removal of subsidy on petrol.
Ajaero on Thursday insisted that petrol subsidy must not be removed and that it would not shift grounds on this position until Nigeria’s refineries were fixed.
He said in an interview with the Vanguard, “The way they put some of these things makes it to look as if it is now rocket science. Is it subsidy on the crude produced here or subsidy on what? Those are some of the concepts you want to understand.
“Subsidy on garri, yam or all those things we produce here? I say this because the crude oil we are talking about is produced here and we now say let there be refineries to process it here.
“And when that is done nobody will tell you about subsidy. It is to make things easier for the same person who says he is paying subsidy. If you produce refined petroleum products, at least the one we need for domestic consumption, you won’t tell us about subsidy again.
“But by the time you carry our crude oil and refine it abroad and you bring it back, you will start to tell us that you have spent money on shipping, landing cost and all other costs and then you need to add money to make it real and you call it subsidy.”
Ajaero submitted that members of the union did not believe that the government was incurring any cost on petrol subsidy because it was possible to trade crude oil with refined products without having to incur additional costs.
