FG inaugurates technical committee on petroleum pricing modulation

The Federal Government, on Monday, inaugurated the Technical Committee on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) Pricing Framework.

The Committee was inaugurated at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja by the Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, who said the Committee was expected to work assiduously to come up with a viable framework for PMS price modulation.

The minister noted that the setting up of the Committee was part of the continuation of the dialogue between the Federal Government and Organised Labour on the issue of the increase in fuel price and electricity tariff.

He said: “This is a consequential fallout of the series of bipartite meetings between the Federal Government and Organised Labour, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to fashion out a mechanism and framework to monitor and stabilize PMS pump price.”

The Committee’s terms of reference include: “To review cost of supply and incidental commercial cost of PMS and arrive at a basis of determining Market Reflective Pump Price cap under the template of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA) Act;

“To engage all relevant stakeholders to establish a price review framework; and to carry out any other assignment that will facilitate the work of the Committee.”

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The Chairman of the Technical Committee is Engr Onochie Azubuike Anyaoku, while the Secretary is Lawal Musa of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Other members include Umar Ajiya (NNPC), Festus Osifo (Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria [PENGASSAN]), Williams Akporehia (Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers [NUPENG]), Saidu Abdullahi (PPPRA), Ahmed Bobbi (Petroleum Equaliz=sation Fund), and Ahmed Zakari (Special Assistant to the President on Infrastructure).

The rest are Comrade Najeem Yasin (NLC), Dr Nasirudeen Usman (NLC), Chief Hyginus Chika Onuegbu (Trade Union Congress), representative of Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and Mrs C. C. Dike (representative of Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment).

The Committee, which he described as Bipartite Plus, is expected to submit its report on Monday, January 25, 2021, in the first instance for the main committee to study.

Chairman of the Committee, Engr Onochie Azubuike Anyaoku, said they would work to provide an honest evidence-based report to enable the larger meeting to make informed decisions.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE