A RADICAL PROGRAMME TO TACKLE THE CRISIS IN THE OIL SECTOR

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) urgently proposes the following steps as emergency measures to tackle the crisis in the oil sector, restore products availability, reverse pump price to official price, clean up the oil industry and take the oil wealth from oil cartels and crooks and return it to the Nigerian people it rightly belongs to:

• (1) No to the illegal N150 and above pump price of fuel. Revert fuel price to official price of N87.
• (2) DPR, PPRA and other relevant government agencies must enforce price control and ensure discharge of fuel products. Close down any erring filling stations selling above official price and hoarding fuel.
• (3) Do not pay oil marketers the N159 billion exchange rate differential. It is immoral, exploitative and unjust.
• (4) Jail all fuel subsidy thieves and their accomplices. Speed up all pending cases against indicted oil marketers on trial since 2012. Recover their over $1.1 billion loots by seizing their assets and freezing their accounts.
• (5) End casualization and no redundancies in the oil and energy industry. For well-paid and regular employment throughout the oil industry.
• (6) Open the books! For a fresh public probe of the oil subsidy claims since 1999 and the entire corrupt-ridden oil industry by an independent committee made up of elected representatives of trade unions, workers, experts, social movements and civil society.
• (7) Halt fuel importation by oil marketers and middlemen. As a temporary emergency measure, government should directly take up the responsibility of fuel importation by entering into an agreement with foreign refineries to make available refined products in exchange for crude or other forms of payment aimed at bringing down the price of petroleum products.
• (8) An immediate crash programme funded by the state to eliminate fuel importation completely within the next two years by revamping the existing four refineries so they can work at optimal level and building new ones. Privatization and Public Private Partnership (PPP) will only worsen the situation as the privatized power sector demonstrates. Eliminate marketers and middlemen in the gas supply chain as well.
• (9) An overhaul of the NNPC. For a new NNPC and subsidiaries run democratically by a board whose members, with proven record of expertise or working experience in the oil and gas industry, will be elected by workers, consumers and oil-producing communities.
• (10) No to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)! It will give more control of our collective wealth to oil cartels. Instead, nationalize the local and multinational oil companies, take the oil industry into genuine public ownership under the democratic control and management of the working people.