PMS Pump Price of N162/Litre No Longer Sustainable, Governors Say
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has called for the full deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector, saying that the current pump price of petroleum at N165 per litre was no longer sustainable by the Federal Government.
In a section of the communique released after their 30th Teleconference meeting held at its Abuja Secretariat on Wednesday night and signed by the Chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, the NGF said that “between N70 billion and N210 billion is estimated to be spent every month to keep the PMS price at N162/litre, a situation which is completely unsustainable.”
The Forum also called for immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee on the Autonomy of State Legislature and Judiciary accusing the Committee of overheating the relationship between state governments and the other arms of government.
The Governors, who deplored the ongoing labour in Kaduna state, said the crisis could spiral out of control and be replicated in each of the states across the country, whilst calling on the Governor of Kaduna and all other Governors to remain steadfast in the pursuit of human rights protection while ensuring that actions taken do not undermine the safety and security of lives.
According to Fayemi, NGF stands with the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, in his quest to improve the productivity of workers and their rights for a better quality of life.
“The NGF resolved to call for the immediate dissolution of the Presidential Implementation Committee on the Autonomy of State Legislature and Judiciary as this Committee is now acting as a permanent committee basically misguiding and overheating the relationship between State Governments and the other arms of government.
“On the Labour crisis in Kaduna State, the NGF noted that it stands with the Governor of Kaduna State in his quest to improve the productivity of workers and their rights for a better quality of life.
“NGF recognizes that what is happening in Kaduna State, will reverberate in each of the States and encourages the Governor of Kaduna and all other Governors to remain steadfast in the pursuit of human rights protection while ensuring that actions taken do not undermine the safety and security of lives.
“NGF appeals to both parties in Kaduna State to resolve the issues in the interest of the State as the protection of human rights for the collective good of all citizens and growth of our dear country, Nigeria, is what matters most” Fayemi stated.
He added that NGF agreed on the need to continue to maintain COVID public health guidelines and vaccination protocols to ensure that the transmission of the virus is kept at the lowest level possible.
The NGF Chairman also briefed the Forum on an ongoing consolidation exercise between the Forum and the Budget Office of the Federation to consolidate public finance data of the federal, states and local governments into a national budget portal.
He urged his colleagues to share details of
their local government budgets and financial statements in addition to State government data already published.
Concerning the controversial Executive Order #10, the NGF said that talks have reached advanced stages with all parties involved and that Governors are happy to implement the demands of the Judiciary and the Legislature.
“On the Executive Order#10, talks have reached an advanced stage with the Ministry of Labour, Conference of Speakers, National Judicial Council and the NGF.
“All parties are working earnestly to resolve the issues surrounding the implementation of the order. There are however legal aspects of the order that need to be tied up, but which cannot take place if officials responsible for these final processes are on strike. Governors are happy to implement the demands of the Judiciary and the Legislature.
The Governor of Delta State, H.E Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, who is the Chairman of the NGF Sub-Committee interfacing with the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 provided also provided an update to the Forum on the activities of the PSC, and informed members of the expected commencement of the administration of the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the country, starting with those who received the first batch of the vaccine.
The Governor noted that the PSC is currently working to get additional vaccine doses for the country, and he urged his colleagues to continue to maintain COVID public health guidelines to ensure that the transmission of the virus is kept at the lowest level possible.
During the meeting, presentations were also received from the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Sabo Nanono, on the second phase of farmer enumeration for the Agric
for Food and Jobs Plan (AFJP) which is a component of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) approved by President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on June 24, 2020.
The programme is designed to help mitigate the impact of COVID 19 on smallholder farmers and the entire agricultural value chain. The 2nd phase enumeration is an extension of the 1st phase targeting the registration of up to 10 million farmers in the AFJP database. 2.4 million small holder farmers were initially targeted for registration to be provided with input funding to boost food production, with about 30,000 N power (N Agro) graduates engaged and trained to carry out the farmer registration.
The Forum also received presentations from the World Bank led by the Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, in the company of Prof. Foluso Okunmadewa, Sector Leader of the Human Development Team, and Yue Man Lee, Task Team Leader for the States Fiscal
Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability (SFTAS) – Program-for-Results (PforR) on the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus – Program for Results (Nigeria CARES) and SFTAS.
Also, a World Bank team commended the commitment and actions of State Governors for establishing and resourcing CARES programme State Coordinating Units under their Ministries of Planning, and requested for their additional support in areas such as the adoption of a Fund Release Policy for improved predictability of resources flows to CARES Delivery MDAs; adoption and institutionalization of protocols for reporting, management and investigation of fraud and corruption in MDAs implementing CARES; and the release of 2021 State budgets to MDAs for the commencement of CARES-related activities. The Bank also urged the support of Governors to ensure that their Ministries of Finance and Ministries of Justice fast track the execution of subsidiary agreements for the CARES programme.
During the meeting, the NGF agreed on the need to continue to maintain COVID public health guidelines and vaccination protocols to ensure that the transmission of the virus is kept at the lowest level possible.
- On the Labour crisis in Kaduna State, the NGF noted that it stands with the Governor of Kaduna
State in his quest to improve the productivity of workers and their rights for a better quality of life.
NGF recognizes that what is happening in Kaduna State, will reverberate in each of the States
and encourages the Governor of Kaduna and all other Governors to remain steadfast in the
pursuit of human rights protection while ensuring that actions taken do not undermine the safety
and security of lives. NGF appeals to both parties in Kaduna State to resolve the issues in the
interest of the State as the protection of human rights for the collective good of all citizens and
growth of our dear country, Nigeria, is what matters most.
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