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Oil workers charge govt on true federalism

By Yetunde Ebosele
14 April 2016   |   1:26 am
The federal government has been urged to look at the possibility of reverting the mode of governance in the country to true federalism, so as to resolve the present economic woes.
PHOTO: explorationworld.com

PHOTO: explorationworld.com

The federal government has been urged to look at the possibility of reverting the mode of governance in the country to true federalism, so as to resolve the present economic woes.

According to oil workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), true federalism is the only panacea needed to tackle the national economic woes being experienced in the country.

The union in a statement signed by its National President, Achese Igwe, said if true federalism is enthroned in the country, states will no longer have excuses for not paying workers as they will have all rights on revenues generated without recourse to government at the center.
“NUPENG believes that the States and local governments should be allowed to control their resources with a clear definition of federal government projects.

The current structure of states and local governments depending on federal allocation for their survival negates the principles of true federalism

The only solution to the current economic challenges is for the states and local government to have independence on the revenues generated and accruing in their domain in order for them to pay salaries and execute projects, while there will be an interface with the Federal government on their projects, it said”.

Besides, it noted that for the nascent democracy to have a meaning and end the sufferings of the masses, true federalism must be entrenched in the country.

It opined that a situation where states don’t give account of internally generated revenue it judicious use will be a thing of the past if the system is adopted

It also added that true federalism will eliminate wastages, in the IGR system, as the laissez faire attitude will not be there, as all efforts will be geared towards revenue generation to pay salaries, debts and finance projects.
Meanwhile, the union has declared its willingness to partner with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to end the perennial fuel scarcity in the country now.

While calling for collaboration with the NNPC to end the scourge, NUPENG said about 60 percent of its members are involved in the distribution chain.

“ Most of the IPMAN and NARTO members are either NUPENG members or were former members and with collaboration with them, they will be able to get the issue right and end the present scarcity of petroleum products.
On privatization, the union warned the government the Federal government to should be careful not to make the same mistakes made by the past administration as witness in the power sector.

It urged government not to allow the failure of the privatisation process in the power sector to rub on the oil & gas sector.
“All the past privatization processes done by the Bureau for Public Corporation (BPE) was fraught with inadequacies and that government should review the exercises and where necessary revoke their licenses. Till date, all privatization exercises done lacked transparency”, NUPENG said.
Besides, it urged government to ensure that the refineries work optimally so as to reduce the dependence on foreign importation of petroleum products.

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